U I Parti 

'^- 1 P of 

:opy 1 

. jrsonal Records 



Grand Army 



of the 



Republic 



Its History and Its Heroes 






/ 



PERSONAL RECORDS 



/ 




mk 




JOHN C. ROBINSON 



THE 



GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC 



(DEPARTMKNT OF NEW YORK) 



PERSONAL RECORDS 



BY 



/ 



COMRADE HENRY P. PHELPS 






MAY B© IflMJ 



.- ~r 



•' W»SV' 



«v. 



NEW YORK 



l8c)t) 






Coi'VKii;iiT, 1895 
Bv Hi;nry p. Phhi.ps 



PREFACE 







T can not be too distinctl\- understood that the preservation in this form, of 
individual records of comrades of the Grand Army of the Repul)lic, stands 
for something more than merelv the gratification of personal pride, no 
matter how justifiable, and natural, and honorable that personal pride may be. 

Just as the Grand Army itself seeks not merely to conserve the interests of its 
members, but through them to maintain, and encourage and illustrate for all the 
world, the highest arifl noblest standard of American Citizenship, these records, while 
they can not otherwise than honor the soldiers of the republic, have a still grander 
mission in that they are a precious legacy, teaching to future generations, through the 
examples of those thus commemorated, the great principles of loyalty and patriotism 
which should fire the heart and inspire the soul of every man worthv to live under the 
Hag made sacred by the blood of countless thousands who have died in its defense. 

Better than anything yet published do they represent the material of which the 
Union armies were composed, not only by what these men accomplished as wearers of 
the blue, but by what they have since become as citizens. In many an instance the lad 
of 19, who without influence or experience, faithfully carried a musket through all his 
term of service, has since shown liy the place he has won for himself as a civilian, the 
stuff that was in him all the while, but which, in the repression of armv life, was never 
demonstrated, or perhaps, suspected. It is for this reason, and also, once and forever 
to refute the vile aspersions of calumniators of our glorious organization, that some- 
thing more than the army records enters into most of these sketches, affording as they 
do, with the accompanying portraits, the most irrefragible demonstration of the high 
standing and exalted character of manv of its most prominent members. 

And while it is too much to hope, perhaps, that in the delicate matter of encomium 
and prominence, exact proportionate justice has been done, it should be said in fairness 
to all concerned, that while in nearly every instance, the manuscript has been submitted to 
the one best qualified to verify the statement of fact contained therein, the editor alone 
is responsible for the form which the statement is made to take. On the other hand, 
however, where less space has been devoted to a record than seems adequate, the rea- 
son is usually to be found in the modesty of the individual comrade, himself, — certainly 



PkF.F.\( E 



not in any desire of the compiler to lessen the [)r<>])er proportions of the sketch 
in question. 

The rule has been observed that anv man who is a member of the Grand Armv is 
eligible tu representation in these |)am's, no matter what his rank, or term, or what the 
nature of his service. Some of the best nun in tlie organization at first objected that 
their war records were not of sulfKiml importance to justifv an a])pearance here. The 
answer was simple; ICverv volunteer who enlisted, no matter whether it was for thiriv 
(lavs, or three years, placed bis life at the disjiosal of his countrv. TluMeafter it was 
sim|)lv witii him a matter of obevinjj; orders. These mijiht lead liim to 

"The iminincnt deadly breach," 

uv Id the shclli-r of the \]:v^ that lloats above a hospital — to the bloody field oi Gettys- 
burgh, or to do provost dLit\ in the city of New \'ork. Every soldier could not be 
always at tiu' front. 1 he actual lighting force of an army is rarelv half its numerical 
strength, lint like Milton's angels, 

" They also serve who wait." 

it is assumed that a member of the Grand .Armv of the Republic did such dutv as lie 
wa-^ called upon to do, and what that dutv was, whether ])erilous or otherwise, his sketch 
makes manifest. If it was such as brought him lionorable scars, or promotion on the 
held oi iialtle, no one will wish to deprive him of his glory ; but nun ju'^t as brave as 
lie. went through the war unscathed, and willioLit siioulder-strap or clu-vron — men 
just as loval, just as true, languished with disease in hos|)ital, laitl down their lives, and 
died without a glimpse of gray, or smell of powder. 

There is no rank in the Grand Armw aiul no rule of precedence has been observed 
in the arrangement of these sketches. With a few exceptions, thev have been |)rinted 
practicallv in the order in which the data was received. Aside from their personal 
bearing they include many interesting incidents of armv life coming under the obser- 
vation of the narrators, and which ha\'e been hiliieito un])ulilishe(l. 

11. P. P. 



\ 



<^ • \ c 







PERSONAL RECORDS 



JOHN C. ROBINSON. Among the 40,000 
members of the Grand Army of the Republic 
who constitute the Department of New York, 
there is none who more fully has the respect, 
the esteem and the sympathy of his comrades 
than has the hero of three wars and thirty years 
of army service, now sitting under the shadow 
of a great affliction, in his home and birthplace, 
the beautiful city of Binghamton. 

Nearly fourscore years have passed since John 
Cleveland Robinson first saw the light of day 
which comes no longer to his sightless eyes. 
He was born April 10, 1S17, of New England 
parentage. His father was the first judge of 
Broome countv, and was also postmaster of 
Binghamton under Andrew Jackson. 

After studying in the schools of his native 
town, and in the near-by academy at O.xford, 
young Robinson received an appointment as 
cadet at West Point in 1835, and although leav- 
ing a year before graduation to study law, in 
October, 1839, was commissioned second lieuten- 
ant in the 5th U. S. Infantry, and was stationed at 
Sackett's Harbor and Green Bay, Wis. He joined 
the Army of Occupation in Texas, at Corpus 
Christi, as regimental and brigade quartermaster; 
was at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, served 
with distinction at Monterey, and participated in 
the concluding operations of the Mexican war, 
being promoted meantime to first lieutenant. 

In August, 1850, he was further promoted to 
captain, and in 1853-4 was engaged against the 
Indians in Texas, and in 1856 he led expeditions 
against the Seminoles in the Eveiglades and Big 
Cypress swamp of Florida. In 1857-8 he took 
part in the Utah expediti(_)n which the action of 
the Mormons made necessary. 

At the beginning of the civil war Captain 
Robinson happened to be in command at Fort 
McHenry, having under him only 100 men at 



the momentous time when the Massachusetts 
Sixth were attacked on their way through Balti- 
more, and It was part of the same rebel plan to 
capture the fort. The arrival of a transport 
gave rise to tiie rumor, assiduously cultivated by 
the commander, that a full regiment had been 
sent on to strengthen the garrison, and the ruse 
prevented an attack that under the circum- 
stances might have been successful. 

Captain Robinson was subsequently sent on 
recruiting and mustering service to Ohio and 
Michigan, and in September was appointed 
colonel of the First Michigan Volunteers. In 
February, 1862, he was promoted to major in 
the United States army; was commissioned 
brigadier-general of volunteers the following 
April, and commanded a brigade at Newport 
News; was transferred to the Army of the Poto- 
mac, and placed in command of the First brig- 
ade of General Phil Kearney's division; took 
part in the seven tlays' battle before Richmond, 
and commanded a division at Fredericksburg, 
Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, where he 
earned the brevet of lieutenant-colonel, U. S. A., 
and at Mine Run and in the battle of the Wilder- 
ness performed services for which he received 
the brevet of colonel. 

At Spottsylvania Court House, while leading a 
charge on the enemy's breastworks, he was 
wounded by a bullet in the left knee which led 
to amputation of the leg at the thigh a week 
later. This, of course, unfitted him for field 
service. He was brevetted major-general of 
volunteers in 1S64, and brigadier and major- 
general U. S A. in March, 1865, and was 
awarded a congressional medal of honor. He 
served as military commander and commissioner 
of the Freedman's bureau in North Carolina in 
1866; was mustered out of volunteer service 
September i, of that year; commanded the 



lO 



Till'. Grand Akmv oi riii l\i rn-.i k 



department of the South in 1867; and tlie de- 
partment of tlie lakes in 1867-8. On May 6, 
1869, was retired witli full rank of major-gen- 
eral. U. S. A. 

Still his honors were not quite complete. In 
1S72 he was elected lieutenant-governor of the 
state of New York, on the republican ticket 
headed by General Di.x for governor. He was 
the third department commander of the depart- 
ment of New York, and in 1877-8 was the com- 
mander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the 
Republic. In 1S87 lie was chosen president of 
the Society of the Army of the Potomac. 



and later on in the Red River campaign. Tlu-y 
were then sent to the Shenandoah V'alley (July. 
1864), and were with Sheridan at Opequan and 
Cedar Creek. They remained in the valley till 
the close of the war, and were then sent to 
Georgia. Sergeant Saxton took part in all these 
campaigns, but was never wounded. 

He joined the Grand Army soon after it was 
organized; was commander of Post 56 and of 
Post 173. In 1892 was a member of the Depart- 
ment Council of Administration, and in 1894 
was elected delegate-at-large to the National 
Itncampment. Is a lawyer, living at Clyde, 



^ C^ 




CHARLES T. SAXTON 



CHARLES T. SAXTON, enlisted as a private 
November 19, 1861, in an organization that 
afterwar<ls became the 90th New York. He 
was at that time fifteen years and four months 
old. He was soon promoted to corporal, and in 
about a year to sergeant. In 1863 he was color- 
bearer for several months; in December, 1864, 
he was made sergeant-major, and as such was 
discharged February 19. 1866, after serving four 
years and three months, before he was twenty 
years old. He was at Key West and the Tortu- 
gas in 1862 when the regiment lost one-tifth of 
their number from yellow fever. In 1S63 the 
regiment took part in the siege of Port Hudson, 



N. Y. ; has been assemblyman and senator, his 
name being widely associated with the ballot 
reform movement. In 1S94 he was elected lieu- 
tenant-governor on the republican ticket. 

JOILX P.\LMER, who, as commander-in- 
chief, has held the highest office in the organiza- 
tion, was born in Staten Island, March 22, 1842, 
of English parentage. When a year old he was 
taken to England, and spent the ne.xt ten years 
on the other side of the Atlantic. Sailing with 
his grandfather to the Black Sea, as a boy he 
saw something of the siege of Sevastopol. He 




JOHN PALMER 



Its History and Its Heroes 



13 



passed three )'ears at a semi-military school near 
I^iverpool and then came back with his parents 
to America, settling at Albany, where he learned 
[he trade of painter and decorator. September 
10, 1861, he enlisted in the 91st New York Vol- 
unters, which was organized in Albany, and was 
mustered in as corporal in B company. His 
father and two brothers also entered the army, 
the elder Palmer dying from injuries received 
therein in 1S63, the sons all serving till the close 
of the war. John Palmer served throughout the 
war, and by his bravery rose through all the 
grades from a private to the command of his 
company, participating in every engagement in 
which his regiment fought. At the battle of 
Five Forks, the final and decisive conflict of 
the rebellion, he commanded company G, the 
extreme left of the line of infantry in the 5th 
army corps. In a terrific combineil charge of 
cavalry and infantry a horse belonging to Major 
Garrison's command was shot ; tlie animal reared 
and threw itself bodily upon John Palmer, bear- 
ing him to the earth and crushing his spine with 
the hilt of a basket handled sword. In the death 
struggles of the poor beast Palmer was subjected 
to further injury, but was rescued by his com- 
rades by being palled out from under the dead 
animal. When lifted from the ground it was 
supposed that his injuiies were fatal, but by a 
delicate surgical operation his life was saved, 
although he has suffered constantly to the pres- 
ent day, despite the best skill of both American 
and European surgeons. 

In 1866, on the organization of the Grand 
Army, Captain Palmer became a charter mem- 
ber of Lew Benedict Post 5, in which he has 
been an active worker to the present time. He 
has held many positions of responsibility in the 
order, from commander of his post to commander 
of the department of New York twice, senior 
vice commander-in-chief in 1879 and commander- 
in-chief in 1891-2. In September, 1892, he had 
the honor of leading a column of eighty thousand 
veterans through the streets of Washington, in the 
grandest and most impressive parade tlie organi- 
zation has made, or will ever make. The enthu- 
siasm with which he was received on that occa- 
sion was expressive of the signal favor with which 
he is regarded by members of the order through- 
out the length and breadth of the land; as well 
may be the case, for no one has been more con- 
tinuously and intelligentiv active in behalf of the 



"old soldier" tiian John Palmer. He was one 
of the originators of the Soldiers' Home at Bath, 
which is the object of his special care. He has 
been identified with the management from its 
inception as chairman of the executive committee 
and is now President of the board of trustees. 
As a public spirited citizen he is identified with 
many civic associations and public enterprises, 
also with several savings banks and loan associa- 
tions of the state. He is a man of marked exec- 
utive ability — a model presiding officer. His 
success in life comes from an indomitable will, 
industry, integrity and a good sound business 
mind. 

Although always a republican in politics, he 
repeatedly refused to accept nominations for 
office till 1893, when he was the unanimous 
choice of his party's convention for secretary of 
state, and was elected by a plurality of 25,098, 
to serve for two years from January i, 1894. 
He was re-elected for a second term to serve 
three years from January i, 1S96, by a majority 
of 90,000. 



EGBERT L. VIELE was born in Waterford, 
N. Y.,Jiine 17, 1S25; was graduated at West 
Point July i, 1S47, assigned to the Second U. S. 
Infantry, and joining his regiment in Mexico, 
served under General .Scott, and subsequently 
on the Lower Rio Grande, and at Ringgold 
barracks, and at Fort Mcintosh. He was pro- 
moted to first lieutenant October 26, 1850, and 
resigned from the army in 1853 to practice civil 
engineering. In 1854-O he was state engineer 
of New Jersey, and in 1857-8 engineer-in-chief 
and designer of Central Park, and four years 
later designer and chief engineer of Prospect 
Park, Brooklyn. He responded to the first call 
for troops. He conducted an expedition from 
New York to Washington, forcing a passage up 
the Potomac river, the first vessel to arrive at 
the capital with troops. After serving in May 
and June as captain of engineers. Seventh Regi- 
ment, New York militia, in the defense of Wash- 
ington, he was commissioned brigadier-general of 
volunteers (August 17, 1861), and directed to 
form a camp of instruction at Scarsdale, N. Y. 

General Viele was assigned as second in com- 
mand in the South Atlantic expedition under 
General T. W. Sherman, September 19, and 
engaged in the capture of Hilton Head, S. C 



14 



TiiK Grand Army ok the Republic 



He also liad commaiui of the movement wliich 
resulted in the ca[)ture of Fort Pulaski. In 
1862-3 served in the department of Virginia; 
planned the attack and took Norfolk and its 
navy-yard, and was military governor of that 
city from its capture until October, 1863. After 
superintending the draft in northern Ohio, re- 
signed October 20, 1863, and resumed the 
practice of civil engineering, in which he has 
been eminently successful. Was a member of 
the forty-ninth congress from the thirteenth 
New York congressional district. 




Egbert L. Viei-e 

Mubtered into the Grand Army in October, 
1S84; was commander of Lafayette I'ost in 1890 
and 1891. 

General Viele's father, Hon. John L. Viele, 
an eminent lawyer of his day, and a soldier of 
the war of 181 2, was appointed the orator to 
receive General Lafayette on his visit to 
the battle-field of Saratoga. His maternal 
grandfather, Colonel Johannes Knickerbocker, 
commanded a regiment at the surrender of 
Hurgoyne at Saratoga. 

General Viele has been identified for nearly 
half a century with the principal public improve- 
ments of the city of New York. He is the 
author of the T(>|iographical Alias of the city. 



a well known scientific work of great value, 
especially to the medical profession. He is the 
originator of the Board of Health, the elevated 
and cable railway system and of the under- 
ground system recently adopted. For more than 
a quarter of a century he has been professionally 
active in promoting the improvement of the 
Harlem river, recenth' opened to navigation, the 
celebration of which was under his auspices. 
He has planned and is now superintending the 
improvements of the east harbor, an important 
addition to the commercial facilities of the 
metropolis. 

ABRAHAM GILBERT MILLS was born in 
New York city, March 12, 1844. When but four 
years old, his father died. He then lived for 
several years in Jamaica, Long Island, where he 
attended L'nion Hall Academy until the age of 
fifteen, when he began his commercial career by 
entering the service of E. H. Kellogg & Co., a 
business house of high standing, and which still 
exists in the city of New York. 

On the organization of the famous Duryee 
Zouaves (5th N. Y. Vols.) at the outbreak of the 
war, he sought to enlist in that regiment, but 
his widowed mother could not then be persuaded 
to give her consent. This he finally obtained in 
the following year, and enlisted (at the age of 
eighteen) in the regiment of his choice. Mean- 
time the Duryee Zouaves had gained a high 
reputation for military discipline and bravery 
in battle, many of our most promising young 
men sought to enlist in the now famous regiment 
and several of Mills's schoolmates and friends 
enlisted with him. An attempt was made to 
form a Zouave brigade, and Mills began his 
active military career in the field as a member 
of Company E, Second Duryee Zouaves (165th 
N. Y. Vols.), a regiment ofticered mainly from 
the "Old Fifth." This regiment was in active 
service three years in Louisiana, Texas, Virginia 
(under Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley), and 
in South Carolina, . nd well sustained the high 
reputation of the original Duryee Zouaves, whose 
term of service had expired in 1863, but whose 
name and uniform the "Second Duryee Zouaves" 
made conspicuous until the close of the war. 

Concerning Mills's career at the beginning and 
in the most notable part of the service of his 
regiment, Brevet Lieut. -Col. Henry C. Inwood 



Its IIistokv and Its Heroes 



15 



(one of the "old Fifth"), who was the captain 
of the company in vvhicli he served, writes as 
follows: 

"He very r.ipidly acquired a thorough knowledge of 
and practical acquaintance with the duties of a soldier. 
He became prominently an ornament and example to the 
company. I promoted hira corporal and very shortly 
afterward sergeant, in which capacity he greatly assisted 
me in preparing my company for field service. As a 
sergeant he passed through the Port Hudson campaign 
in 1S63, and distinguished himself nobly as a brave 
American volunteer. 



Mills had commanded his company in the fruit- 
less nigiit attacks on the "Citaciel," the strong- 
est point in the defenses of Port Hudson (June 
29 and 30, 1863), and was on duty with his com- 
pany throughout the entire campaign. After the 
surrender of Port Hudson and the consequent 
opening of the Mississippi, Mills was detached 
from his regiment on special duty, concerning 
which Col. Inwood says: "I recommended 
A. G. Mills for this service because he was my best 
soldier." Doubtless absence from his regiment 




•'^,JJ 



r 



ABRAHAM G. MILLS 



" He was side by side with me at the charge on Port 
Hudson May 27, 1863, and after I was disabled by a 
rebel bullet and the regiment very much decimated and 
demoralized by defeat, he conspicuously rallied them to 
the colors, took command of my company and, with the 
regiment, led them to the charge again, and, by his 
intrepidity, earned and received thp thanks of the 
brigade commander (General Nicker.son). I was to this 
an eye witness. 

"On rejoining the regiment from hospital I learned 
from the regimental commander that Mills had conducted 
himself handsomely during my absence, that he had 
commanded the company and had rendered efficient 
service. I took the earliest opportunity to recommend 
him for a lieutenancy and requested his assignment to 
ray company." 



on detached service prevented his further pro- 
motion, but his services to the close of the war 
were meritorious and he was honorably mustered 
out with his regiment September i, 1865. 

Shortly afterward he was offered and accepted 
a position in the civil service of the government 
in Washington, D. C, and entered the Columbian 
College Law School in that city in 1867, whence 
he graduated in 1869 and was admitted to prac- 
tice in the Supreme Court of the District of 
Columbia. Meantime he had been promoted 
to an important position in the U. S. treasury 
department and in 187 1 was sent to London 



i6 



Tin; Gkami Akmv ov riii-; l-JKruiiLic 



with a delegation of treasury officials in connec- 
tion with rc-fiiiKlintj the government bonds. 

In 1874 he resigned his government office to 
enter commercial life, in which he has had a 
successful career, and is now vice-president and 
secretary of Otis Brothers & Co., the well known 
elevator builders, and is also a director in several 
other important business enterprises. 

He entered Lafayette Post No. 140, G. A. K., 
in 1890, and in the following year was elected 
commander of that famous post. On the expira- 
tion of his term he was unanimously re-elected 
commander, and is still a recognized leader in 
that select, progressive and influential organiza- 
tion of veterans of the war. 

He is also a member of the Loyal Legion, of 
the United Service Club, a life member of the 
Society of the Army of the Potomac, a vice-presi- 
dent of the Nineteenth Army Corps Society, an 
associate member of the Uuryee Zouaves (Old 
Fifth) Veteran Association, and vice-president 
of the Veteran Association of the Second Duryee 
Zouaves (165th N. Y. V'ols). 

In social and club life he is eciually conspicu- 
ous as a leader. He is president of three clubs 
and associations in the Adirondacks, a vice-presi- 
dent of the Colonial Chil), a member of the 
governing boards of the lingineers' and Patria 
Clubs, e.\-president of the New York Athletic 
Club and of the National League B. B. C, and 
is also a member of a large number of patriotic, 
scientific, charitable, commercial and social clubs 
and organizations. 



RASTUS S. RANSOM was born in Mount 
Hawley, 111., March 31, 1839. He enlisted May 
31, 1861, and was conspicuously identified with 
the recruiting and organizing of the 50th N. V. 
Volunteer Engineers, which was mustered into 
service September 15, 1S6 i, and was commissioned 
first lieutenant, Co. H, to rank from September 
16. The regiment encamped at Hall's Hill, Va., 
and was assigned to Butterfield's brigade, Fitz- 
john Porter's division. After some time spent in 
drill the regiment was sent to Washington navy 
yard, and there equipped to join the peninsula 
cam|)aign. It was sent forward via City Point, to 
Yorktown,and was in the trenches from April 3, 
1862, to May 4, when the enemy evacuated, and 
our troops occupied the city. After a few days 
the 50th was moved to White House Landing as 



a part of Gen. Woodbury's brigade of volunteer 
engineers, and Lieutenant Ransom participated 
in the operations of the Army of the Potomac in 
its advance on Richmond, up to and including 
the battle of Fair Oaks. 

During the peninsular campaign Lieutenant 
Ransom was in command of his company, the 
captain being on iletached duty. His health 
failed, however, t(j such degree that remaining 
any longer in the Virginia swamps meant speedy 
death. Unwilling to resign, he obtained thirty 
days' leave of absence, thinking he might in that 




Ram lb S. Ransom 

time regain his heallh and return to his comnuuui. 
He was moved from camp on a hand-car drawn 
by a mule, but at White House Landing, the 
surgeon in charge, finding some supposed irreg- 
ularity in his papers, ordered him back to camp 
in the swamps. His condition being critical, 
the surgeon of the brigade so certified, and 
Lieutenant Ransom was discharged May 31, 
1862, on the ground of disabilities contracted 
in the service in the line of duty. 

Lieutenant Ransom returned to his home in 
Flmira a physical wreck. Later on, in the hope 
of being of some further service to his country, 
he made application for admission to the invalid 



Its History and Its Heroes 



17 



corps (July 16, 1863), but was found unfit for 
even that branch of the service. The following 
letter shows the esteem and respect in which he 
was held by the colonel of the 50th : 

Headijuarteks 50TH Regt., N. y. Vol., ~| 
"Camp Advance" near New Bridge, Va., |- 

J/ny 31, 1862. J 
R. S. Ransom, f/rsi Lieutcnanl : 

Dear Sir — I can not permit you to leave this regi- 
ment — compelled by long continued ill health— without 
expressing my sincere sympathy for the cause and evi- 
dent propriety of the act — at this particular crisis — 
which I know- pains you much. 

Allow me to add my testimony of your ability, zeal 
and industry in discharging the duties of first lieutenant 
of Company H, of 50th Regiment, N. Y. Vol., since the 
organization of the regiment last August, and for nearly 
half that period, those of lieutenant commanding, during 
the absence of Captain Beers on detached service. 

I desire also to testify my high appreciation of the 
ability and courage displayed by you, during the ardu- 
ous and dangerous service the officers and soldiers of 
this regiment (as part of the " Engineer Brigade " of the 
Army of the Potomac) were called upon to perform for 
several weeks before Yorktown, constructing batteries, 
pontoon and other bridges, entrenchments and parallels, 
under the almost constant fire from the cannon and 
mortars of the enemy. 

With the hope that the care and comforts of home, 
and suitable rest will restore your health, and m\' wishes 
for your happiness and prosperity hereafter, 
I am, dear sir. 

Very truly your friend, 

CHARLES B. STUART, 
Colonel sot h Regi., N. Y. V. 

Comrade Ransom is now a prominent mem- 
ber of the New York bar, and he was surrogate 
of the county of New York for six years. He is 
a member of Lafayette Post and the Loyal 
Legion, in which he is deservedly popular, as he 
is in all other organizations with which he is 
connected. 



JAMES ARMSTRONG BLANCHARD was 
born in Jefferson county, N. Y., August i6th, 
1845, of Huguenot, English and Scotch descent. 
When nine years old his family moved to Wis- 
consin, and in that state he enlisted in the 
Second Wisconsin Cavalry, joining the regiment 
in the summer of 1864, when it was near Vicks- 
burg, where they were principally engaged. 
When asked for his military record. Comrade 
Blanchard said ; 

" In view of many records, it is hardly worth 
mentioning. When the war broke out my father 



was dead. I was the baby of the family, and 
my brothers and sisters had gone their several 
ways. Mother and I lived on the farm and took 
care of each other, and the farm took care of us. 
In 1864 I enlisted as a private soldier in the 
Second Wisconsin Cavalry and was assigned to 
Company I. I was a mere atom of the lowest 
known quantity in the regiment, filling the 
niches assigned me, and if you would know my 
military record you must look for it in the 
history of the regiment." 

Turning to the history we find that on Dec. 
ist several companies of the regiment, number- 
ing 280 men, were sent out to learn the position 
and strength of the enemy. About eleven miles 
from Yazoo City they met the enemy's pickets, 
drove them in, and soon became engaged with a 
force four or five times their number. Com- 
panies E, F, H and I were ordered to dismount 
and dislodge the enemy. A sharp battle ensued. 
The major in command was severely wounded, 
and the companies engaged lost about forty in 
killed, wounded and missing The enemy's loss 
was seventy-five. The major commanding, in 
his report, says: " I cannot refrain from speak- 
ing of Lieutenant R. R. Hamilton, of Company 
F, and Lieutenant Tinkham, of Company I, and 
their companies, who displayed the greatest 
bravery and fought gallantly, and deserve the 
highest praise." Soon after this engagement, 
the regiment proceeded to Memphis, from where 
it took part in one of the Grierson raids, which 
covered some 450 miles and resulted in the cap- 
ture of 500 prisoners, who were turned over to 
the Second Wisconsin to guard. General Grier- 
son says in his report; " The Second Wisconsin 
was detached to take charge of the prisoners, 
and the officers and men of this regiment deserve 
much praise for the cheerfulness with which they 
performed this arduous duty during the balance 
of the march." On this raid immense amounts 
of the enemy's property were captured and de- 
stroyed, and General Grierson, in closing his 
report of it, says: "This, one of the most 
successful expeditions of the war, undertaken, 
as it was, at a period when roads and streams 
were considered almost impassible, could not 
have met with such extraordinary success without 
the patient endurance and hearty co-operation 
which were evinced by my entire command, and 
all those who participated richly deserve the 
lasting gratitude of the government and remem- 



i8 



TiiK Grand Army ok tiik Rki'uhmc 



brance of their countrymen." The command 
reached Vicksburg Jan. 5th, 1865, were trans- 
ferred back to Memphis, whence the)' went on 
wiiat was called the " mud " raid into Arkansas 
and Louisiana, destroying property, breaking 
up and capturing bands of the enemy, consum- 
ing something more than a month, and notable 
for the unprecedented rainfall which made the 
whole country one vast and almost impassible 
swamp. Returning to Memphis February 20th, 
the regiment was engaged in guarding Memphis 
and hunting guerillas and fragments of armies 




James A. Hi.anchaku 

in Northern Mississippi and Western Tennessee 
until May 9th, when they were sent to Grenada, 
Miss., to garrison that place. Once more return- 
ing to Memphis, they were ordered to Alexan- 
dria, Louisiana, and from there overland to the 
Rio Grande, presumably to look after the opera- 
tions of Maximilian in that quarter. This long 
march was begun on the 8th day of August. 
There was considerable suffering from the heat, 
scarcity of water and food. Stops were made 
(m the way for rest and recuperation. The 
march ended at Austin, Texas, on the 6th day of 
November. It was here they were mustered 
out, months after the war was over, and received 



their linal discharges at Madison, Wis., Dec. 
15th, 1865. The latter part of the service was 
performed under the command of General 
Custer. 

Comrade Blanchard relates an interesting inci- 
dent that occurred during this campaign. The 
lieutenant-colonel temporarily in command of 
the regiment, was very unpopular, and at Alex- 
andria, some 150 of the men having been drink- 
ing freely, made a demonstration by marching 
to his tent, and having chosen the orderly- 
sergeant of Company C as spokesman, informed 
their commanding officer that if he did not leave 
the regiment in twenty-four hours they would 
dump him, head and heels, into the Red river. 
Of course the officer did not leave, but the 
orderly-sergeant was court-martialed, and with 
another officer who had committed a far more 
heinous offense, sentenced to be shot. All the 
preparations were made for the execution ; the 
troops were ordered out to witness the spectacle; 
the men were placed on their coffins, beside 
their open graves; the first word of command 
was given, and then in the midst of the most 
breathless silence, an orderly rushed forward 
and snatched the sergeant out of range. The 
(illier man was shot. The sergeant's sentence 
had been commuted to three years' imprison- 
ment, the result of a petition signed generally 
by the officers, who knew his soldierly record. 
Curiously enough, however, while the petition 
was granted, it was so worded in its reflections 
upon the same unpopular lieutenant-colonel, 
that General Custer ordered the seventeen com- 
missioned officers who signed it to be placed 
under arrest, and all the non-commissioned 
officers reduced to the ranks. While the regi- 
ment was on the march from Alexandria to the 
Rio Grande, General Sheridan met it at Hemp- 
stead, Texas, and after investigating the matter 
revoked the order of General Custer and restored 
the commissioned officers to their commands, 
and the non-commissioned officers to their 
former rank. 

Somewhat broken in health, Comrade Blanch- 
ard, instead of returning to the farm, resolved 
to acquire an education, and entering Ripon Col- 
lege, prepared for college, pursued the classical 
course, graduated in i87i,came east, and after 
a course at Columbia College Law School, 
began the practice of law in the city of New 
York, and is now at the head of the tirni of 




EDWARD J. ATKINSON 



. 



I 



Its History and Its Heroes 



21 



Blanchard, Gay & Phelps, with offices in the 
Tribune Building. Mr. Blanchard has confined 
his attention entirel)' to the civil department of 
the law, in which he has built up a large and 
lucrative business. Without being, in any sense 
of the word, a seeker for political preferment, 
he has long stood high in the councils of the 
republican party. He was one of the organ- 
izers, in 1887, of the National League of Re- 
publican Clubs, and has ever since been active 
in its official management. He is a member of 
the Bar Association, of the Republican and 
Union League Clubs, of the Geographical 
Society, and of Lafayette Post, No. 140. 



EDWARD J. ATKINSON, the department 
commander of the Department of New York in 
1895, was born in the city of New York, March 
10, 18^3. On leaving the public schools he 
found employment in the wholesale drygoods 
house of Robertson, Hudson & Pulliam, and re- 
mained with them till the)' went down in the 
panic of 1857. He was next bookkeeper for W. 
E. Brockvvay, a New York brewer, till April 15, 
1861, and then enlisted in Co. A, 9th N. Y. S. 
M. Days and weeks passed on, men and officers 
were all eager to take part in the stirring events 
which were thrilling the country, but no word 
came from the governor ordering them to the 
front, so when May 27 came around, and still no 
order to go forward had been received, they 
started on their own account, passed unarmed 
through Baltimore on their way to Washington, 
and on June 6 were mustered into the United 
States service as the 83d New York volunteers 
— and they were volunteers, indeed. 

Without his knowledge Atkinson's name was 
placed on the muster roll by the adjutant, as 
principal musician, and thus he became a member 
of the non-commissioned staff of the regiment, 
but while at the head of the regimental drum 
corps, he was also a private soldier in Co. A, and 
thus did double duty. While with the regiment 
he participated in the engagements of Sandy 
Hook, Md., Second Bull Run, South Mountain, 
Antietam, Chantilly, Cedar Mountain, Thor- 
oughfare Gap and Fredericksburgh, besides a 
number of skirmishes. In March 1S63, the war 
department having decided to dispense with the 
services of principal musicians, he was mustered 



out, and came home. Since then he has been 
deputy warden of the New York penitentiary 
eight years; cashier of the Weed sewing machine 
company seven years, leaving that position to 
accept one of searcher in the county clerk's 
office. In 1888 he was promoted to his present 
position of chief of that department of the office. 
In 1880 he joined Kilpatrick Post, of which he 
was commander for two terms. In 1887 he or- 
ganized Horace B. Clafflin Post, 578, and was 
its second commander for one term. The esteem 
in which he is held by his comrades is shown by 
the fact that, by the unanimous vote of the New 
York posts, he has been chosen secretary and 
executive officer of the memorial committee for 
fourteen consecutive terms. In 1893 he was 
elected senior vice department commander; in 
1894 he was a candidate for department com- 
mander, but was defeated by John C. Shotts. 
His success the ensuing year demonstrates the 
truth of the frequent declaration that tlie G. A. 
R. is not a political organization, for while a 
majority of department commanders in this state 
have happened to be republicans. Commander 
Atkinson has always been a democrat. Honor- 
able in all his dealings, loyal to the order, and 
helpful to its members, no distinction it confers 
by ballot can be higher than the one bestowed 
upon him long ago by popular acclaim — " a good 
comrade! " 



FRANK ABBOTT.— Dr. Frank Abbott was 
born September 5, 1836, in Shaphleigh, York 
county, Maine, and is a lineal descendant of 
George Abbott who settled in Andover, Mass., 
in 1640. It is to the honorable record of this 
family that it includes from sixty to one hundred 
members who, ranking from private to general, 
participated in all the colonial wars up to the 
Declaration of Peace in 1781. 

After attending schools in his native town, and 
clerking for a while in a Boston dry-goods store, 
Frank Abbott, in 1857, turned his attention to 
dentistry which eventually became his life-work. 
After practicing for seven years he took up the 
study of medicine, graduating in 187 1 — mean- 
time settling in New York where he has attained 
the highest rank as specialist in the practice of 
dental and oral surgery. 

While living in Johnstown, N. Y., in 1862, he 
became largely instrumental in raising the One 



22 



The Grand Army ok the Repuhlic 



Hiinflied and Fifteenth New York Regiment, 
which was recruited in tlie counties of Fulton, 
Montgomery and Saratoga, and was commis- 
sioned first lieutenant of Company E. The reg- 
iment was at once ordered to the Shenandoah 
valley, and for about a week guarded the 
Potomac and Winchester railroad from Charles- 
ton to Winchester. They were then ordered to 
Harper's Ferry, and camped on Bolivar Heights 
overlooking the scene made forever historical by 
the John Brown insurrection. On September 
13th three companies with similar details from 
other regiments were sent over the river into 



started west for the alleged purpose of lighting 
Indians. They were, however, stopped and 
quartered at Camp Douglas, Chicago, until they 
were exchanged, and while there Lieutenant 
Abbott resigned, having acted during the greater 
part of his term as adjutant of the regiment. 

Returning to Johnstown in November he re- 
sumed his practice. In the summer of 1863 
was drafted, but on examination was declared 
exempt, being physically unfit for service. 

Dr. Abbott is past master of Astor Lodge, 
603, I', and A. M. ; Fellow of the New York 
Academy of Medicine; member of the New York 




'^ 



FRANK ABBOTT 



Maryland on picket duty. The following morn- 
ing a skirmish began on Maryland Heights, and 
lasted from 10 a. m. till 3 p. M., when the Union 
men were ordered back to their quarters on 
Bolivar Heights, the enemy planting cannon 
where they had held our line in the morning. 
The troops on Bolivar Heights, 10,000 strong, 
were kept under the fire of five batteries posted 
at different points commanding the camp, our 
men replying with seventy-one guns. The Union 
forces held the position from Saturday at 3 p. m. 
till Monday at 8 a. m., being constantly under 
fire, when a white flag was run up, and the 
Union command surrendered to Stonewall Jack- 
son. They were immediately paroled (Septem- 
ber 16) and sent to Annajiolis, and from there 



County Medical Society; American Dental Asso- 
ciation ; New York Odontological Society, and 
of the New York State and First District Dental 
Societies; Fellow of the American Geographical 
Society; member of the New York Academy of 
Sciences; Linna-an Society of New York, and 
member of the University Club; has been dean 
of the New York College of Dentistry for twenty- 
six years; professor of dental hyslology, surgery 
and therapeutics; ex-president of the National 
Association of Dental Faculties; ex-president of 
the American Dental Association ; is the author 
of several microscopically illustrated monographs 
upon dental subjects, and a treatise upon dental 
pathology and practice; is a member of Lafayette 
Post, G. A. R. 



Its History and Its Heroes 



23 



ALBERT MONFORT CUDNER was born 
in VVappingers Falls, N. Y. , November 27, 1840, 
and lived there till the spring of 1853, when his 
parents moved to Cold water, Mich., where he 
remained till early in 1S60, when he engaged in 
the grocery business in Rockford, 111. 

On the 6th of August, 1862, he enlisted as a 
private in Co. K, 74th Illinois Vol. Infantry, for 
three years, and September 28 left with his regi- 
ment for Louisville, crossing the river at New 
Albany, on pontoons, at midnight, the command 




A. M. CUIJNKK 

reporting to Gen. D. C. Buel. For a time the 
regiment served in the 14th and 20th corps, and 
after the reorganization of the army under Gene- 
ral Rosecrantz, became part of the ist brigade, 
2d division, 4th corps, Army of the Cumberland, 
and continued as such till the close of the war. 
The division was commanded in the Kentucky 
campaign by Gen. Jeff. C. Davis; at Cliattanooga 
and in the assault of Mission Ridge by General 
Sheridan, and in the Atlanta campaign by Gen. 
John Newton. 

Comrade Cudner was in the ranks with his regi- 
ment in all its battles, charges and skirmishes, 
from Perrysville, Ky. , October 8, i8C)2, to the 
investment of Atlanta, in August, 1864, At the 
battle of Stone River (Murfreesboro), December 



31, he was wounded, captured and for a short 
time confined in Libby prison. Was e.xchanged 
in the summer following and returned to his 
regiment, then at Chattanooga. In the assault 
and capture of Missionary Ridge he was in Sheri- 
dan's 2d division, 4th corps, which had orders to 
take the works at the foot of the ridge; but 
instead of stopping at the foot, the corps, with- 
out orders, pressed on, stormed the ridge itself, 
and took it. After this the corps was sent to the 
relief of Burnside, who was besieged at Kno.xville 
by Longstreet, and remained in East Tennessee 
until May 7, 1864, when the Atlanta campaign 
was opened. In that memorable part of the 
great struggle Comrade Cudner was in the bat- 
tles of Tunnel Hill, Rocky Face Ridge, Dalton, 
Resaca, Calhoun, New Hope Church, Lost Moun- 
tain, Kenesaw Mountain (in which the regiment 
lost 31 per cent in killed and wounded — 33 killed 
and 30 wounded, out of 201, the numerical strength 
of the regiment when it went into the fight), 
Vining's Station, Peach Tree Creek and Atlanta. 

On leaving home September 28, 1862, the regi- 
ment numbered 950, officers and men; but at 
tlie battle of Peach Tree Creek, July 20, 1864, 
the muster roll showed less than 130 of all grades, 
Co. K numljering only si.x. 

After the ca[Uure of Atlanta, Comrade Cudner 
was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned 
to the 42d U. S. Colored Infantry, then at Chat- 
tanooga; was promoted to first lieutenant, and 
appointed adjutant, holding that position till 
mustered out of the service January 31, 1866. 
He is a member of Lafayette Post and of the 
Loyal Legion. At present is in the real estate 
business in New York city. 



ALEXANDER PHCENIX KETCHUM (born 
in New Haven, Conn., May 11, 1839,) is the son 
of Edgar Ketchum and Elizabeth Phoenix, and 
thus descended through both lines from dis- 
tinguished New York families. Through his 
grandparents on his father's side (John Jauncey 
Ketchum and Susanna Jauncey who were 
cousins), a double line comes down through the 
Jauncey famih* from Guleyn Vigne and Adri- 
anna Cavilge; as also from Cornelius Van 
Tienhoven, secretary of New Netherlands, and 
"one of the largest contributors to the defenses 
of New Amsterdam in the list of 1665." Through 
his mother he is descended from Jacob Pha'nix 



Till-: Grand Army ok the Retuulk 



and Anna \'aii \'lec 
Seluyn's list of the I 
graiulfatlier was Re 
his great-grand fathc 
Daniel Phci-nix, who 
tion of merchants in 
of welcome on the 
inauguration, and wl 
of the city of New 
nearly a quarter of a 



k, wiio appear in Dominie 
)utch Church in i6S6. His 
V. Alexander Plux-nix; and 
r the illustrious metchaut, 
, as chairman of the delega- 
1789, delivered the address 
occasion of Washington's 
10 was the first comptroller 
York, which office he held 
centurv. 




Al.KXANDKK P. KkICHUM 

Colonel Alexander Phunix Ketchum gradu- 
ated with honors from the College of the City 
of New York in 1858, after having won prizes 
for natural history, drawing, mathematics and 
oratory. He served a year as tutor in drawing 
and mathematics in his alma mater, and in i860 
graduated from the Albany Law School, and 
was the same year admitted to the bar. The 
civil war then breaking out, he became con- 
nected with the department of the South, and 
as a staff officer of the military governor of 
South Carolina. General Rufus Saxton, was 
active in the conduct of affairs on the southern 
coast. Transferred to the staff of Major-General 
O. O. Howard in 1865, he served as acting 
assistant adjutant-general in Charleston, and later 
in Washington. In September, 1867, he resigned 



from the army with the rank of brevet-colonel. 

In 1S69 Colonel Ketchum was appointed by 
President Grant assessor of internal revenue for 
the Ninth district of New York; later on col- 
lector for the same district; in 1874 was trans- 
ferred to the customs service as general ap- 
praiser of the Port of New York; and in 1883 
was api)ointed by President Arthur chief ap- 
praiser of the same port, which office he vacated 
in 1885 upon the accession of President Cleve- 
land. P"rom that time Colonel Ketchum has 
devoted himself exclusively to the practice of 
the law, buihiing up a large and lucrative lousi- 
ness along the lines in which his father was so 
successful — the charge of estates and convey- 
ancing, and in connection with important cus- 
toms suits in the United States courts, having 
also a considerable general practice. 

As a resident of Harlem since 1839, Colonel 
Ketchum has been active in the development of 
upper New York. He was one of the founders 
of the Mount Morris P>ank, and its first presi- 
dent. In 1890 and 1891 he was president of the 
Presbyterian Union of New York city, while he 
has been prominent in connection with the 
Young Men's Christian Association and various 
benevolent and educational projects. He has 
done considerable literary work and has de- 
livered many public addresses, that on Garfield, 
delivered before the students of West Point, 
being especially notable. Besides being a mem- 
ber of Lafayette Post, Colonel Ketchum was for 
four years president of the Alumni Association 
of the College of the City of New York; is pres- 
ident of the City College Club; and member of 
the Military order of the Loyal Legion, the City 
and State Bar Associations, the Numismatic and 
Arch.neological Society, New England Society, 
Phi Betta Kappa Society, and the Re[)ublican, 
Harlem Republican, Harlem, Quill, University, 
and Alpha Delta Phi Clubs, and the New York, 
Atlantic, Larchmont, New Rochelle, Riverside 
and Rhode Island Yacht Clubs. 



EDGAR KETCHUM (brother of Alexander 
P. Ketchum, subject of the foiegoing sketch,) 
was born July 15, 1S40, in New York city. 
Graduated from the College of the City of New 
York in i860, with the degree of A. R., and 
subsequently received that of A. M. ; and from 
the Columbia College Law School in 1862, 



Its History and Its Heroes 



25 



with the degree of LL. B. His first military 
experience was as a member of Company C, 
Seventh New York National Guard. He was 
subsequently commissioned second lieutenant, 
Signal Corps, U. S. A., with rank as such from 
March 3, 1863, and at once entered the camp of 
instruction at Georgetown, D. C. His first 
assignment to active duty was in the Twenty- 
fourth Army Corps, Army of the James, then in 
front of Richmond. He had the special honor 




EiicAR Ketchum 

to be highly commended in the report of his 
superiors for services rendered during the en- 
gagements there. In January, 1865, he was 
assigned to the staff of General C. J. Payne who 
commanded a division of the second -expedition 
against Fort Fisher, and after landing through 
the surf, assisted in establishing a line from the 
Atlantic coast to Cape Fear River to cut off the 
communications of General Hoke with the fort, 
an enterprise of great difficulty, owing to the 
marshy condition of the land, and the facilities 
the enemy possessed for a concealed attack upon 
our men. Was signal officer with General 
Alfred H. Terry at the capture of the fort, and 
during the battle from 3 to 10 p. m., was con- 
stantly engaged in transmitting signals to 
Admiral Porter commanding the fleet, and so 



directing the fire of the gunboats, being exposed 
to the combined assault of the artillery, musketry 
and sharp-shooters. He entered the fort with 
General Terry, and was placed in command of 
the signal station established on the northeast 
pararpet The following morning the large mag- 
azine of the fort, containing some 13,000 pounds 
of powder, was accidentally exploded, killing 
nearly 200 men. The signal station being only 
about 100 feet distant, was covered with earth 
to a depth of two feet, and Lieutenant Ketchum 
narrowly escaped suffocation. He remained on 
duty at the fort until early in February, when 
General Terry was reinforced by General Scho- 
field and the twenty-third corps. General Scho- 
field assuming the command in the movement 
against Fort Anderson and Wilmington, and 
Lieutenant Ketchum was assigned to his staff. 
Later on he was assigned to the staff of General 
y. D. Cox, as chief signal oflRcer, and acted in 
that capacity till after the capture of Wilming- 
ton, February 22, 1865, performing valuable 
services in connection with the capture of Fort 
Anderson, and all the other fortifications on the 
west side of the Cape Fear River south of 
Wilmington. 

Shortly after the capture of Wilmington, 
Sherman's army being supposed to be at, or near 
Fayetteville, N. C, an effort was made to open 
communication with him by way of the Cape 
Fear River, and Lieutenant Ketchum accom- 
panied the expedition on a small gunboat. The 
trip was made exceedingly difficult by the nar- 
rowness and irregularity of the river, its sharp 
bends, and the frequency with which torpedoes 
were planted along its course. Sherman not 
having reached his objective point, the expedi- 
tion proved fruitless, and Lieutenant Ketchum 
returned to General Terry's staff, and remained 
with him till after the battles of Averyboro and 
Bentonville, between the 17th and 20th of 
March, after which he was again ordered to the 
army of the James, remaining on duty after the 
capture of Richmond, and until honorably dis- 
charged August II, 1865. For gallant and mer- 
itorious service at the capture of Fort Fisher he 
received the rank of brevet first lieutenant, and 
for similar service during the war, the rank of 
brevet captain. 

On his return to New York, a short term of 
service being necessary to comjilete his seven 
years in the Seventh Regiment, he resumed duty 



TiiK Gkani) Akmv of the Ri;runi.ic 



therewith, ami was made a non-commissioned 
officer. On completing his full term, in recogni- 
tion of services performed in the army, he was 
appointed engineer with rank of major, on the 
staff of General William G. Ward, First Brig- 
ade, New York National Guard, and held the 
position for three years, after which he resigned 
and was honorably discharged. 

On his return from the army he resumed his 
law practice, which he has continued ever since. 
Besides being a member of Lafayette Post, he 
belongs to the military order of the Loyal 
Legion, the Society of the Army of the Poto- 
mac, the War Veterans of the Seventh Regiment 
and the \'eteran Signal Corps Association. 

His father, Edgar Ketchum, a distinguished 
lawyer of New York, was collector of internal 
revenue, appointed by President Lincoln at the 
outbreak of the war, and w^as afterwards ap- 
pointed register in bankruptcy by Chief Justice 
Chase, and held that position at the time of his 
death in 1882. 

Comrade Ketchum is the great grandson of 
Daniel Phitni-x, the first city treasurer and 
chamberlain of New York, which offices he held 
for more than twenty years. He was also a 
member of New York's first chamber of com- 
merce, and one of the city's most prominent and 
respected citizens one hundred years ago. 

FRED C. WAGNER.— Not all the important 
service rendered the country in her hour of peril 
was performed at the front, as is shown by the 
record of Comrade Fred C. Wagner, who, though 
commissioned captain of cavalry by President 
Lincoln in May, 1863, was attached to no regi- 
ment, but was appointed provost marshal for the 
seventh district, state of New York, and served 
as such till December, 1865, in the city of New 
York, which, of course, was not only a highly 
important point for the enlistment of recruits, 
but large bodies of troops were frccjuently quar- 
tered here, and others were often passing through, 
affording opportunities for desertion that had to 
be counteracted by alert work on the part of the 
provost marshal. During the draft riots matters 
assumed a still more serious turn, and altogether 
the duties assigned to Captain Wagner were not 
only arduous, but delicate and exacting. That 
they were well and faithfully performed his rec- 
ord is convincing proof. 



Comrade Wagner was born in New York in 
1831. His parents died in his infancy. His 
maternal grandfather, Joseph Runyan, was a 
soldier from New Jersey in the war of 1812, and 
died a soldier's death at New Orleans. Before 
the late war Mr. Wagner was in the India rubber 
business with Horace H. Day, and he is now a 
real estate broker and appraiser at 52 Broadway. 
He held the office of school trustee of the lylh 




Fked C. Wagner 

ward, wiiich capacity he served acceptably for 
si.xteen years. He joined Lafayette Post in 1888 
and is one of its most respected members. 

FRED COCHEU. As indicated by the name, 
the father of Fred Cocheu was a Frenchman; 
his mother was born in New York city of par- 
ents of American descent for six generations, 
and Comrade Cocheu himself, also born in the 
same city March 30, 1832, is as true an Ameri- 
can as wears the button of the G. A. R. 
Obliged to earn his own living since the time he 
was eight years old, he was self-educated, as 
well as self -supported. When the war broke 
out he promptly resigned a lucrative position, 
and enlisted as a private, together with three of 
his brothers, in the early May of 1S61. In Oc- 



^^ 



i^ 



* 




FRED. COCHEU 



Its History and Its Heroes 



29 



tober following he was made a captain of H 
Co., 53d New York Vols., and although subse- 
quently twice elected lieutenant-colonel and once 
a colonel, refused promotion, but remained a 
captain till the end. 

His first experience was one of extreme peril 
on the Burnside expedition in which the regi- 
ment was shipwrecked off Cape Hatteras, and 
for forty-eight days he was one of 800 on board 
the ship John Trucks, with only twelve days' 
provisions. Notwithstanding the 53d was a three 
years regiment, it was, owing to the suffering of 
the men, honorably mustered out of service by 
order of the war department, JMarch 26, 1862. 

A hurried trip to Albany, and four days later 
Cocheu had received from Gov. Morgan a com- 
mission as captain in I Co., 85th New York Vols., 
and in three days was with that regiment at 
Fortress Monroe. He was through the whole 
campaign with the army of the Potomac to Harri- 
son's Landing; was then sent with his brigade to 
Norfolk and Suffolk, Va., and in Januar\-, 1S63, 
to New Berne, N. C. through the Dismal Swamp 
canal. He was made chief of the ambulance 
corps of the i8th A. C, till relieved and sent 
back to his regiment, at his own request, in 
April. Soon afterwards he was sent with his 
own company and five others (one from each 
regiment in the brigade) to take charge of 
Roanoke Island, N. C, where the captain was 
in command with over 75,000 negroes to provide 
for. Late in this year, his father having died, 
and one brother being killed in battle, Capt. 
Cocheu was compelled to resign in order to at- 
tend to imperative private business. As soon as 
this could be arranged he once more re-enlisted 
and was made captain of I Co., 6ist New York 
Vols., and was with Grant from Stevensburg to 
Petersburg, in all serving over three years, and 
participating in thirty-four regular battles, and 
skirmishes innumerable. He was wounded three 
times. 

Comrade Cocheu's record in the Grand Army is 
of twenty-six years standing, during which time 
he has commanded a post twelve terms, served 
one term as inspector-general of the department, 
and held various positions of honor and trust on 
the staffs of department and national com- 
manders. He also had the honor of being grand 
marshal of the thirty-two posts of Kings county 
for the year 1885, and on tiie occasion of the 
burial of Gen. Grant. 



Comrade Cocheu has been a republican ever 
since there was a republican party, and in 1872 
was elected member of assembly from the 7lh 
district of Kings county by a handsome uiajority, 
although the district was usually democratic by 
5,800. 



JOHN ADOLPHUS KAMPING was born 
March 29111, 1842, in the kingdom of Hanover, 
and came, when three or four years of age, 
to America, where his family settled in Cincin- 




JouN A. Kamping 

nati, Ohio. He received his early education in 
the public schools of that city, being at the age 
of ten admitted to the high school, where he 
continued for two years, after which he engaged 
in business until the age of seventeen. He be- 
gan as a teacher in the public schools, and in 
three years worked himself up to the position of 
principal of the third district school of Cincin- 
nati, which position he attained at the age of 
nineteen and held for five years, when he resigned 
to engage in business in New York city. 

On the outbreak of the war he joined, in con- 
nection with other teachers of the schools of 
Cincinnati, a company of the National Guard, 



T,0 



The Grand Army of The REPrisLic 



known as the Teachers' Company, which during 
the four years of the war performed services in 
defense of tiie city as they were required. It 
was an agreement between the members of this 
company, that in case the general government 
siiould call upon them at any time for active ser- 
vice to the front, that they would respond in 
person, and in the spring of 1864, when Presi- 
dent Lincoln called upon the governors of Penn- 
sylvania, Ohio and Indiana for 40,000 additional 
troops for active duty, to finish the war, these 
governors furnished them in a very short period 
of time, the Teachers' Company forming Co. K 
of the 138th Ohio regiment, Colonel S. S. Fisher 
commanding. The company were sent to 
Petersburg and vicinity, when, having accom- 
plished the purposes for which the call was made, 
they were discharged. It is to the credit of tiiat 
company that out of the whole number who be- 
longed to it, only two or three remained at home, 
the rest having fulfilled their promise made at 
the beginning of the war to serve in the front 
when called upon. 

Circumstances in liusiness making it desirable 
for Mr. Kam[)ing to enter the profession of law 
in 1877, he was admitted to the bar, in which 
profession he has continued ever since. It has 
been his established habit, founded upon an early 
conviction of life's duty, that everyone should 
make some step in advance, of mental improve- 
ment each and every year of life, and this 
principle has been practiced with unremitting 
constancy, so that at the end of the year he could 
truthfully say that he had added one more ac- 
quirement of the mind to the store of knowledge 
previously obtained, thus carrying into practice 
the French saying "That a proper life consists 
in the art of employing one's time properly." 
He became a member of Lafayette Post in 1892. 



JOHN J. CLANCY is a native of the city of 
Dublin, where he was born on February 8th, 
1843. He was brought to America when two 
and a half years old, and ever since has made 
his home in New York city. He enlisted Sep- 
tember 18, 1862, in the 165th New York, which 
first saw active service under General N. P. 
Banks, in the Nineteenth Army Corps, Depart- 
ment of the Gulf, taking part in the expedition 
through the Teche country preliminary to the 



siege of Port Hudson ; also in the series of 
engagements which took place around that 
stronghold before it fell, July 8, 1863. After 
the surrender the regiment went on the Red 
River expedition, and after that campaign to 
Sabine Pass, Tex. ; thence to Algiers opposite 
New Orleans. From there they were trans- 
ported to the coast, and to Fortress Monroe, 
from which they were ordered up the James 
River to Deep Bottom to build pontoon bridges, 
and then to Harper's Ferry, where they took 




John J. Clancy 



part in all the engagements that took place in 
that vicinity; then to Winchester and Cedar 
Creek under General P. A. Sheridan. After 
Appomattox the regiment had four months to 
serve, and were sent to Charleston, where they 
were mustered out in the fall of 1865. Comrade 
Clancy was with the regiment all the time, 
serving in the ranks as private and after the 
second year as corporal. Since the war he has 
engaged in the real estate business in New York 
city, where he resides, and is vice-president of 
the Riverside Bank. He is a member of La- 
fayette Post, and wholly in sympathy with its 
aims and methods. 



Its History and Its Heroes 



31 



WILLIAM COURTENAY was born in Bal- 
timore, Md., August 7, 1837, and was educated 
ill the schools of his native city. He held clerical 
positions, and engaged in various manufacturing 
enterprises, in the west and elsewhere until April, 
1S61, when, at the breaking out of the war, he 
enlisted in the 71st New York and did duty with 
the regiment till the following August. 

After the battle of Bull Run he was mustered 
out, and acted on the staff of Gen. Henry Brewer- 
ton in the construction of field works around the 



#?» 



1^ 



T^-' 



>. 






Wl 



William Courtenay 

city of Baltimore until 1862, when he was trans- 
ferred to Portland, Maine, as Civil Assistant in 
the Corps of Engineers in the construction of 
permanent fortifications and field works, includ- 
ing Forts Gorges, Preble, Scammel, Knox, Pop- 
ham, and at different points along the coast, all 
in the department of Maine. 

On leaving the government service in Novem- 
ber, 1865, he returned to Baltimore and engaged 
in mercantile pursuits until 18 70, when he removed 
to New York, and has been a resident of that city 
ever since. He is largely interested in manufac- 
turingenterprises, being president of several large 
corporations. Is a member of the Lawyers' Club, 
Sons of the Revolution, and Veterans' Association 
of the 71st Regiment, and for a term of three 



years after the war was Quartermaster of that 
regiment. Has been a member of Lafayette 
Post since 1885. 

>^ 

VINCENT MEIGS WILCOX, late colonel 
i32d Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infan- 
try, was born in Madison, New Haven county, 
Ct., October 17, 1828, and is the son of Zenas 
and Lovisa Meigs Wilcox. On both his father's 
and his mother's side he is descended from and 
connected with some of the oldest families in 
New England. 

The genealogical records of the Wilcox family 
show it to have existed in Britain even prior to 
the Norman Conquest. William Wilcox, a lineal 
descendant of Sir John Wilcox, a noted knight 
of the time of Edward III, settled in Stratford, 
Ct., in what was then known as the New Haven 
Colony, as early as 1639. He was prominent in 
the affairs of the colony, and in 1647 ^'^'as a repre- 
sentative of the General Court at Hartford. His 
son Obadiah, when he became of age, settled at 
East Guilford, now known as Madison, Ct., and 
from him Colonel Wilcox descends in the fifth 
generation. On his mother's side he descends 
from Vincent Meigs, who also settled in Guilford 
about the year 1638 and laid the foundation for 
a long line of distinguished descendants, who 
have made a name in the educational, judicial, 
political, medical and military affairs of our 
country. His maternal grandmother, who was 
Mrs. Mary Field Meigs, daughter of Timothy 
Field, a captain and distinguished officer in the 
Revolutionary war, an ancestor of the Field 
family that includes such illustrious names as 
David Dudley Field and Cyrus W. Field. Colonel 
Wilcox was educated at Lee's Academy, in his 
native place, and on leaving school followed the 
occupation of teacher for three years. Soon 
after he engaged in the mercantile business and 
became prominent in the local affairs of the town. 
In i860 he removed to Scranton, Pa., and was 
extensively engaged in the mercantile business in 
that city when the war broke out and the North 
was aroused. While residing in his native town 
he became an active member of the 2d Regiment, 
Connecticut State Militia, and a lieutenant in the 
Madison Light Guard. While acting in this 
capacity he received a course of tactical instruc- 
tion under General Hardee, author of " Hardee's 
Tactics," and afterwards a noted Confederate 
general. 



>1- 



TiiE Grand Akmv ok tiif. Rki'uiu.ic 



At the call to arms Mr. Wilcox responded at 
once and joined a company of young men, hastily 
organized in Scranton, to prepare for service in 
the army. His military knowledge was soon 
discovered and he was induced to instruct his 
associates in the art of war. So successful was 
he in his instruction that forty-eight out of the 
seventy-five members of the company became 
officers in the Union army, serving with distinc- 
tion in many a hotly contested battle. 

On May 13, 1862, Lieutenant Wilcox was 
appointed brigade judge ndvoc^itf" on the staff of 




ViNi KM -M. W'li.ri 



Brigadier-Gen. A. N. Meylert, with the rank of 
major. I'pon the formation of the i32d Regi- 
ment, Pennsylvania Vols., he was made lieuten- 
ant-colonel. On the 19th of August, 1862, the 
regiment moved to the front and encamped at 
Fort Corcoran, where the regiment received a 
course of instruction in necessary military tactics. 
On September 2, 1862, it made a march of twenty- 
two miles to Rockville, Md., and was assigned to 
Kimball's brigade of French s division, Sumner's 
corps. On the 13th of September they made a 
forced march of thirty-three miles, reaching the 
battlefield of South Mountain just as the battle 
was over. On the morning of the 17th, at the 
battle of Anti'etam, the regiment met the enemy 
at close quarters and for the first time was under 
direct fire. Placed in an important position, 



they held it for four Injurs. While the line of 
battle was being formed, Colonel Oakford, who 
led the regiinent, was mortally wounded and the 
command devolved upon Lieut. -Colonel Wilcox. 
At an important crisis in the battle Colonel Wil- 
cox received orders from General Kimball to 
hold the ground to the last extremity. When 
this order was received, the aiDmunition was 
found to be exhausted. Colonel Wilcox at once 
conceived the idea of using that in the cartridge 
boxes of the dead and wounded, and was thus 
enabled to keep up the fight. When the last 
shot had been fired, he received orders to charge 
the enemy. Fixing bayonets, the regiment, 
under his lead, rushed forward with such fierce- 
ness that the Confederates were driven from 
their position and a colonel and several men were 
captured. At the close of the battle Lieut. - 
Colonel Wilcox was promoted to a full colonelcy. 
In October, 1862, his regiment participated in 
the reconnaissance to Leesburg. The fatigue 
attending this forced march resulted in a severe 
illness (with typhoid fever) for Ct)lonel Wilcox, 
and for a time he was confined to the Oflicers" 
Seminary hospital near Washington. Partially 
recovering, he presented himself for duly, but 
the examining surgeon refused to accejA liini as 
a well man, and reluctantly he retired from active 
service. Lieut. Colonel Albright, writing from 
camp at Belle Plains, Va., November 28, 1S62, 
said: "I should like to see you here, as I know 
all the boys would, but, believe me, I am afraid 
to have you come on account of your health. 
Vou are known to be a brave, capable and efficient 
officer and beloved by all, and you can do nothing 
that will make you more so." 

After recovering his health, he came to New 
York and accepted a responsible position with 
P.. & H. T. Anthony & Co., manufacturers and 
importers of photographers' supplies. In 1870 
he was admitted as a partner, and eventually 
became secretary, vice-president and president 
of the corporation. Comrade Wilcox became a 
member of Lafayette Post in March, 1889. He 
is also a member of the Loyal Legion. He is 
also an elder in the Phillips Presbyterian church 
on Madison avenue and one of the executive 
committee of the Presbyterian Union. Colonel 
Wilcox is a man of fine presence and a fine 
speaker, and his annual atldresses to his old 
regiment have been frequently published and 
are full of enthusiasm and patriotic principles. 



Its History and Its Heroes 



33 



ALEXANDER B. CRANE The combination 
of iawj-er and soldier afforded in the life and 
public services of Alexander B. Crane is an in- 
teresting illustration of the kind of material 
of which the Union army, was in part, composed. 
Born in Berkley, Mass., April 23, 1833, and 
graduated at Amherst in 1854, he removed to 
Terre Haute, Ind., there studied law in the office 
of Richard W. Thompson (secretary of the navy 
under President Hayes), was admitted to the bar 
in 1856, and speedily worked into a large and 
important practice, first as a member of the firm 




Alexander B. Ckane 

of McLean & Crane, and afterwards as Scott & 
Crane. He came still further into prominence 
in the county where he resided, by being elected 
its prosecuting attorney. From the birth of the 
republican party in 1856, he was one of its most 
hopeful, energetic and enthusiastic members, 
working with all his might for the cause of free 
speech, free soil. Fremont, and when the war 
broke out, and for a few weeks it was a question 
whether Indiana would be disrupted, or arrayed 
in support of the government, he exerted all the 
eloquence and personal magnetism at his com- 
mand to strengthen the spirit of patriotism in 
that state. But those were times in which words 
alone were not the highest proof of loyalty, and 



obtaining from Gov. Morton a commission as 
lieutenant, and autliority to recruit a company, 
Comrade Crane with his command joined the 
85th Indiana Volunteers, and was mustered in 
as lieutenant-colonel. 

While stationed at Nicholasville, Ky. , he was 
made provost marshal, and one of his first official 
acts was to put a stop to a sale of negroes by the 
sheriff. Soon afterwards a military commission 
was convened to test the authority of a military 
commander in punishing a slave-holder for 
shooting at one of his slaves, an act committed 
within the federal lines. Col. Crane was ap- 
pointed judge advocate, and the commander 
W'as fully sustained. 

In the winter of 1863 the 85th was sent to 
Tennessee, and stationed at Franklin. In the 
following March, while on a foraging and fight- 
ing expedition together with four other regi- 
ments, a battery of artillery, and a troop of 
cavalry, they fell in with Van Dorn"s division of 
six brigades.the battle of Thompson's Station was 
fouglit, and the four regiments were captured. 
The men were soon exchanged, but the officers 
remained in Lil)by prison and spent nine long 
weeks in confinement. They were then ex- 
changed, and Col. Crane at once returned to his 
regiment for duty. He remained in Tennessee 
with Gen. Rosecrans's army (of which the 
lamented Garfield was adjutant-general) till 
August, 1863, when he was detailed as a member 
of a board to examine officers as to their com- 
petency to command colored troops, who were 
then being enlisted at Nashville. After serving 
in this capacity for six months, he returned to 
his regiment, then at Laverne, Tenn. In the 
spring of 1864 they were marched over the Cum- 
berland mountains to Chattanooga, and joined 
Gen. Sherman's army, being assigned to the 3d 
division, 20th corps, and thereafter participated 
in all the battles fought by Gen. Sherman to the 
close of the war. While at Atlanta Col Crane 
was in command of the 2d brigade, 3d division, 
20th corps, for several weeks. 

In the fall of 1864 Col. Crane went home on a 
twenty days' leave of absence, and while there 
was nominated for the state senate, for the pur- 
pose of organizing the republican party in Sul- 
livan county, at that time the camping ground 
of the Sons of Liberty, who had organized to 
forcibly resist the draft. Although Col. Crane 
preferred to return to his command. Gov. 



34 



The Grand Army of the Repuiu.ic 



Morton feeling that the state of Indiana was the 
hattle-ground on whicli the reelection of Lincoln 
was to be decided, and deeming Col. Crane's 
personal influence and oratorical acquirements 
of great importance, obtained for him from the 
war department an extended leave of absence, 
together with a request from John P. Usher, 
then a member of Lincoln's cabinet (secretary of 
the interior) that he remain in the state until 
after the October election, whicii lie did, tlic 
republicans gaining the victory. 

After this he returned to his command and 
was with it constantly through Georgia, the 
Carolinas and so to Washington. In July, 1864, 
he was commissioned colonel of his regiment, 
lull never mustered in as such. 

At the close of the war Col. Crane came to 
New York city, married, and became a member 
of the law lirmof Mitchell & Crane, whicli lasted 
till the death of Mitchell, his father-in-law, in 
187S. He is still in practice as senior member 
of the (irm of Crane & Lockvvood. Besides 
being a member of Lafayette Post he belongs to 
the I'nion League, Loyal Legion, United Service 
Club, 1). K. li. Clul), and Sons of the Rev(iluti<jn. 



JAMES LOUIS BE YEA. That the great- 
grandson of a sea captain who came to this country 
with the French troops under Lafayette should, at 
present writing, be the surgeon of Lafayette |)ost, 
is a coincidence as pleasant as it is interesting. 

James Louis Beyea was born in Goshen, N. Y., 
of Huguenot lineage, July 28, 1S37. He at- 
tended the I'armer's Hall academy, at Goshen, 
N. Y., till 17, and then found employment in a 
bank, in Kingston. Thence he went to New 
York city and connected himself with a dry- 
goods importing house that went down in the 
panic of 1857. He was subsequently book- 
keeper for a new firm in the same business, and 
was thus engaged at the outbreak of the war. 
His sympathies were all with the cause of the 
north, although his employers, having a large 
southern trade, steadfastly opposed his enlist- 
ment in the Seventh New York, till 1S62, wlu'u 
all trade in that quarter having been arbitrarily 
cut off, and in its place the firm were receiving 
large orders for army clothing, they withdrew 
their objections, and he became a member of 
K company and served on the three months call, 
(luring which he never missed a duty nor had an 



hour's furlough. Failing to obtain a commis- 
sion he did not re-enlist, but sailed forSanFran- 
cisco, in the steamship Aerial, which was captured 
by the Confederate cruiser, Alabama. For fif- 
teen years he was in business on the Pacific 
coast, ten years of the time as cashier and 
office head of the Pacific Iron Works, meantime 
joining the City Guard and serving as aid-de- 
camp and major on the stalTs of Generals Allen 
and Cobb. Returning to New York in 1877. he 
entered the Homeopathic Medical College and 
graduated in 1880, the valedictorian of his class. 





I)K. J. L. Bkvka 

He was immediately appointed clinical assistant 
to Prof. Doughty, and in 1S83 became demon- 
strator of midwifery to the chair of obstetrics. 
He is also physician in charge to the Society for 
befriending children and young girls, under the 
care of the Sisters of the Divine Compassion; is 
a member of the county and state medical socie- 
ties, and of the Chiron and Materia Medi<:a clubs. 
In iS84l)r. Beyea re-enlisted in the Seventh 
regiment, and now holds the ten-years service 
medal. He was enrolled in Lafayette Post in 
April, 1891, and was elected its surgeon in 
November, 1894; re-elected in 1895. He is also 
a member of the Seventh Regiment veteran and 
Church clubs. 



Its History and Its Heroes 



35 



WILLIAM A. COPP was attending the high among other duties they escorted 2,300 rebel 
school in Grafton, Mass., when the call for nine prisoners captured at Gettysburg to Fort 
months' men was made in 1862. His former McHenry, and assisted the city police in search- 
teacher raised a company for the 5 ist Massachu- ing houses for concealed weapons, of which 
setts. Colonel A. B. R. Sjirague, and a number many were seized and confiscated. They next 
of his inqiils went with him, among them young went to Harper's Ferry and did outpost duty on 
Copp. The regiment proceeded to New Berne, the Potomac, and from there to Boonsboro, Md., 
N. C, took part in the Goldsboro expedition to intercept the retreat of Lee into Virginia. In 
and performed such other duties as were required this they were too late, and soon after they 
of them in the old north state till nearly the returned to their homes in Massachusetts, 
expiration of their term of service. About that Meantime young Copp's father, Andrew James 
time General Dix was expected to move on Copp, had died a soldier's death at Antietam, 




Ml 



WILLIAM A. COPP 



Richmond via the Pamunky, and the 51st 
reported at Fortress Monroe and went on as far 
as White House; but upon learning that the 
regiment was in light marching order, anti with- 
out camp equipage, and also that the time for 
which the men had enlisted was nearh' up. 
General Dix sent them back to Fortress Monroe, 
and requisition was made for their transporta- 
tion home. On the evening of the aSth of June, 
Colonel Sprague hearing of the critical condition 
of affairs in Pennsylvania and Maryland, offered 
the services of the regiment to assist in turning 
back the invaders of northern soil. The regi- 
ment was accordingly sent to Baltimore, where 



and there were reasons why the former should 
remain at home. He entered Yale college, 
graduated in 1869, and was member of the 
university crew during the four years course. 

He studied law at Columbia Law school, was 
admitted to the bar in 1870 by supreme court, 
and has been engaged in the duties of his pro- 
fession in this city continuously since. 

He was one of the charter members of Lafay- 
ette post, was its second commander (1883), and 
again in 1894. Was chairman G. A. R. Memorial 
Committee, New York city, in 1885 and 1886, 
and has long been trustee of Grant Monument 
Association. 



Tin: Grand Army ok iiik Ri:i'Ui'.i.ir 



JOSEPH H. CEIAPMAN was born in New 
York city, and comes from a family wliicli is 
identified witii the history of the country from 
the lime of its earliest settlement, and has been 
ci)nspicuons for love of country and loyalty to 
the government for over two huiulred years. 
Sir Robert Chapman, the American ancestor of 
the family, was one of the forty-three proprietors 
who settled in the town of Saybrook, Conn., in 
1648, under the grant made to Lord Say and 
Seal, and Lord Brook. Gen. Gardinier mentions 
Sir Robert Chapman very frequently in an ac- 




JosKi'ii H. Chapman 

count of the operations against the " Pe(iuils " 
in and about Saybrooke during the Pequit war. 
On the maternal side Mr. Chapman is descended 
from Col. Rudyard, a i)rominent officer in a 
regiment of Scotch Highlanders. 

Mr. Cliapman joined the third (C) com|)any 
of liie 7th N. G. S. N, Y., in January, 1855, and 
in the spring of 1861, when Fort Sumpter was 
fired upon, and President Lincoln called for 
volunteers to defend the Union and uphold the 
laws, went to the front with his comrades of the 
Seventh, and continued in service till sometime 
in 1862, He also volunteered for service in the 
draft riots of 1863, and was in a detachment 



commanded by Lieut. Murray which served 
under Gen. Mott during that lime of trouble 
and apprehension for the loyal citizens of New 
York. He has been for many years connected 
with the Veterans of the Seventh, was a member 
of the Uniformed Battalion, keeps up his con- 
nection with the Seventh Regiment Club, and 
retains a general interest in the Grand Army, 
having been a member of Lafayette Post since 
September, 188S. 

After leaving school Mr. Chapman spent about 
a year and a half in North Carolina, and was for 
a time, after his return, in the employ of the 
Erie Railroad. In 1S54 he commenced his ser- 
vice with the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Com- 
pany, and in a few years became its secretary, 
which position he has held for nearly thirty-five 
years. He has been an active member, and the 
treasurer of St. Luke's M. E. church, for a long 
time, and was for many years superintendent of 
its sabbath school. 

HENRY O. CLARK was born in Milton, Vt., 
January 9, 1844. He was a clerk in Chicago 
when the call for nine months' troops was made, 
and returning to his native state, enlisted in the 
ijlh Vermont regiment, and was mustered in as 
sergeant. The regiment was placed in defense 
of Washington, and soon had occasion to demon- 
strate its metal bj' repulsing the attack of the 
rebel Stuart on Fairfax Court House. The regi- 
ment was subsequently transferred to the first 
brigade, third division, first army corps, and was 
one of Stannard's brigade of five regiments that 
supported the artillery in the two days' fighting 
at Cemetery Hill, Gettysburg. On the third day 
of July was in line of battle on the left of the 
cemetery and repulsed Pickett's famous charge, 
the regiment at that time losing fifteen per cent 
in killed and wounded. While stationed at Wolf 
Run Shoals, on the Occoquan river, a wagon 
train was captured by Mosby, after which two 
sergeants, each with five men, were detailed from 
tlie regiment to penetrate the enemy's lines and 
discover what had become of it, and abtain in- 
formation of any similar attempts being made. 
Clark was one of the sergeants so detailed. The 
other squad was taken prisoners, but Clark kept 
on and performed valuable service in |)reventing 
further damage being done at that time by the 
noted guerilla. 



Its History and Its Heroes 



37 



At the expiration of his term of service, Ser- 
geant Clark was mustered out with his regiment, 
and engaged successfully in the mercantile busi- 
ness in his native town until 1871, when he re- 
moved to New York and continued in trade till 
1886, when he retired. He has taken an active 
interest in Grand Army matters, has been aide- 
de-camp on the staffs of the National Comman- 
ders Veazey and Palmer; commander of Rey- 
nolds Post, and is now a member of Lafayette. 
He has been corresponding secretary and vice- 
president of the First Army Corps Association ; 




Henky O. Clakk 

vice-president of the 13th Vermont Regiment 
Association, and a member of the Society of 
the Army of the Potomac; has also been aide- 
de-camp, with rank of colonel, on the staff of 
Governor Ormsbee of Vermont. 



THOMAS J. BARNABY was born in West 
Harwich, Mass. ; attended the schools of his 
native town, and the high schools at Worcester 
and Newburyport. At the age of si.xteen he 
entered the drug business and was thus employed 
till the call for troops in 1861, when he enlisted 
as lieutenant, and after assisting in recruiting 
Co. G, 12th Mass., Col. Fletcher Webster com- 



manding, went with the regiment to Fort 
Warren. He was there so badly crippled with 
rheumatism that he was obliged to resign, and 
received an honorable discharge from Col. 
Webster and Capt. Saltmarsh, with recommend- 
ation for future appointment as first or second 
lieutenant. After a long illness he returned to 
his former employer and remained with him till 
the call for nine months men, when he enlisted 
in the 44th Mass., and served faithfully with 
that exceptionally fine organization till the ex- 
piration of its term of service. 

This regiment, which may be said to have 
lineally descended from the New England 
Guards (organized in Boston during the war of 
181 2), fairly represented in its pasoiuicl the kind 
of men which formed some of the regiments the 
Old Bay state sent to war, having in its ranks 
450 clerks, seventy-five college students, eighteen 
artists, three clergymen, etc., etc. It was 
mustered into service at Readville, September 
12, 1862, Francis L. Lee, colonel, and left for 
the seat of war in North Carolina, October 22, 
by steamer. Its baptism of fire was received in 
an expedition sent out of New Berne for the i^ur- 
pose of destroying the iron-clad ram Albemarle, 
then building at Tarboro. On the Goldsboro 
and other expeditions the regiment performed 
such meritorious service as to be accorded the 
distinction of having inscribed upon its banners, 
by order of Gen. Foster, the names of Kingston, 
Whitehall, Goldsboro, Washington, N. C, and 
Rawl's Mill Comrade Barnaby, who enlisted 
as a member of Co. G, was appointed apothecary 
on the surgical staff, and at Batchelor's Creek 
was the acting assistant surgeon. The Regi- 
mental History (printed in Boston in 1887) 
pleasantly recognizes the necessary and import- 
ant character of the services he rendered. 

Soon after the return of the regiment he went 
to Memphis, Tenn., to take charge of a large 
drug house, and while there suddenly found 
himself once more in the service, having been 
appointed hospital steward, 2d Regiment E. M., 
department of Memphis, by order of Col. David 
Ryan, W. DeLos Hawkins, adj., Dec. 19, 1864. 
This was made necessary by the raid of Gen. 
Forrest which had for its purpose the liberation 
of confederate prisoners, and was hotly con- 
tested, the rebel general being finally repulsed 
without gaining his point, although many on 
both sides were wounded. 



38 



The Grand Army ok tiif, REruiu.ir 



After three years in the south Comrtule 
Barnaby came to New York, manatced Rushton's 
pharmacy for four years, and then established 
himself in business in Elizabeth, \. J., and there 
joined Ulric Dahlgren Post 25, serving as chap- 
lain, senior vice-commander and commander. 
He was also a member of Washington Lodge, 
No. ^^, treasurer of the Society for the Preven- 
tion of Cruelty to Animals, and president of the 
Elizabeth Board of Trade, resigning these 




TuoM.vs J. Baknady 



positions when he removed to New York in 1877. 
He is now an active member of Lafayette Post, 
and one of the color guard. 

Comrade Barnaby traces his descent from 
James Barnaby, who came to New England in 
1633, and his wife Lydia Bartlett, daughter of 
Robert Bartlett and Mary Warren, eldest 
daughter of Richard Warren, Robert Bartlett 
coming over in the ship Anne, in July, 1623. 
James Barnaby was a lineal descendant of 
Thomas Barnaby, of Ludlow Galop, who was 
treasurer to Edward IV. of England. His 
family seat was at Brockhampton in 1552. 
William Barnaby was among the crusaders to 
Jerusalem, as Lord Lastries. 



GEORGE W. LYON was born in New York 
city, April 24, 1844; was educated at the public 
schools and the college of the City of New York ; 
was employed in the office of a jewelry concern 
for about a j'ear, and then began reading law 
with ex-Judge John W. Edmonds. In April, 

1862, he laid aside his Blackstone and accom- 
panied his regiment, the 37th New York State 
Militia, to the field, mustering April 29. While 
the regiment was at Annapolis he was authorized 
to recruit troops by Gov. Morgan, and was com- 
missioned first lieutenant in the 131st New York, 
the date (jf muster being August 20, 1862. This 
regiment was at first ordered to Harper's Ferry, 
but, the surrender taking place, was made a part 
of the IJaiiks expedition, and |iarticipalc(l in the 
various movements and cami)aigns in the de- 
partment of the Gulf, including the siege of 
Port Hudson. In the fall of 1S63 Lieut. Lyon 
resigned his position to accept the adjutancy of 
the 2nd Louisiana (white) cavalry, subset|uently 
consolidated with the ist Louisiana Cavalry, 
Adj. Lyon retaining his position, and for some 
mouths serving as adjutant of the cavalry depot 
at New Orleans. On Thanksgiving mnming, 

1863, the regiment started on what was known 
as the "Sweet Potato" raid, from East Baton 
Rouge through Southern Louisana, Mis:issippi 
and Alabama to destroy railroad communication 
between the gulf ports and the interior. The 
expedition lasted a month, but proved a failure 
owing to the great rains which made the roads 
impassable, and forced the trt)ops to subsist 
almost entirely on sweet potatoes. Their ap- 
pearance on the march is said to have been more 
ludicrous than picturesiiue, the smoke of the 
I)it(li-pine fires having blackened their faces till 
they looked like charcoal burners, while rem- 
nants of sweet potatoes were hanging from their 
unkempt beards. 

Shortly afterwards. Gen. Canby assuming 
command of the military division, appointed 
Adj. Lyon aide-de-camp, and acting assistant 
adjutant-general on his staff, which position he 
held during the fall and winter of 1S64, includ- 
ing the campaign against Mobile, its capture and 
the surrender of Gen. Dick Taylor's army. On 
the arrival of Gen. Sheridan, who succeeded Gen. 
Canby, an order was issued directing all officers 
on detached duty to report to their commands. 
At the request of Gen. Canby, however, Gen. 
Sheridan retained Lyon as aide-de-camp on his 



Its History and Its Heroes 



39 



staff, and assigned him to Gen. Canby as volun- 
teer aide. During the war Lyon served as judge 
advocate of thirteen general courts marshal, and 
at various times upon the staffs of Gens. Birge 
and Grover. During the siege of Port Hudson 
(although at that time not twenty-one) he built 
a military road two miles in length, connecting 
the extreme right and right centre of our line 
with twi) bridges, capable of sustaining the 
largest siege guns used in tlie subjection of 
the fortress, and the road and the bridges are 
there yet. He was twice recommended by Gen. 



district attorney of the county of New York 
under Phelps in 1873, and Rollins till 1882. 
He has always taken an active and practical in- 
terest in republican politics in the county of 
New York, and was for some years secretary of 
the county committee. Was member of as- 
sembly in 1886; defeated for state senator in 
1887 ; served as surveyor of the port under 
President Harrison from 1889 to 1893. At the 
request of Col. Strong assisted in the municipal 
campaign of 1894, which resulted in Mayor 
Strong's election; is now corporation attorney. 
Is a mason, a member of the military order of 
the Loyal Legion, the Republican Club, the 
Union League Club, the Bar Association, and of 
Lafayette Post, G. A. R. 



(< '*^ 


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7 


^^^^^^ '^^SH^Htt 


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T ^< 



George W. Lyon 

Canby for promotion for services in tlie fieki. 
After his resignation had twice been refused on 
the ground that his services were too valuable to 
lose, it was finally accepted on October 7, 1S65, 
to permit the recovery of his health after an 
attack of yellow fever. He at once returned to 
New York, and to the study of law in ex-Judge 
Peabody's office, was admitted to the bar in 
May, 1866, and has been in active practice ever 
since. In 1872 he was one of the counsel of the 
Committee of Seventy in their successful assault 
upon the Tweed ring, and with Commissioner 
Davenport assisted in the preparation of the re- 
form legislation that followed. He was assistant 



JOHN H. DINGMAN was born March i, 1839, 
near East Greenbush, Rensselaer county, N. Y. 
His father, Isaac C. Dingman, was one of a fam- 
ily of nine children, of whom the six sons as well 
as their father Jacob were farmers originally, 
but some of them later on became engaged in 
mechanical or professional pursuits. J^'dge 
.James Dingman, of Stockport, Columbia county, 
N. Y. , is his uncle, and Isaac C. Dingman, his 
father, will be remembered by the masonic fra- 
ternity of New York city as liaving taken its 
highest degrees. Adam Dingman, the first of 
the family in this country, was born in Haarlem. 
Holland, and lived in Greenl)ush in 1663. In 
1677 he bought a farm at Kinderhook from Jacob 
Janse Gardenier, whose daughter Altje he also 
married. Inasmuch as the Patroon, \'an Rens- 
selaer, made his purchase of land, including 
Kinderhook, in 1630, it will be seen that the 
Dingman's were among the earliest settlers of 
New York and that Comrade Dingman is in direct 
descent from the Hoband-French Huguenot 
stock. He came witli his father to New York 
city when four years of age, graduated from the 
public schools when fifteen years old, attended 
New York College two years, and in 1855 began 
his career in the publishing business with Mr. 
Charles Scribner, Sr. , who was then located on 
the site of the present New York Times building. 
Mr. Dingman has continued uninterruptedly 
with this one establishment ever since, and is 
known prominently and favorably by the book 
trade throughout the whole country. He makes 



40 



Tiir Grand Army <>i- tiif. Rkpuhmc 



friends easily and keeps them permanently, and 
works enthusiastically in the various organiza- 
tions with which he is connected. He is a mem- 
ber of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club, 
the Brooklyn Institute, Lafayette Post 140, G. 
A. R., the Aldine Club of New York, and others. 
For seven years, and especially during the two 
Low campaigns, he was a member of the execu- 



believes in a cheerful Christianity. Dolefulness 
has no place in it in his estimation. 

Lieutenant Dingman enlisted as a private in 
Company B, 37lh Regiment, before its formation 
as a regiment, and was in a few weeks elected 
corporal, and then sergeant. He went, May 28, 
1862, with the regiment, under Colonel Charles 
Roomc, in its three months' campaign, to Camp 




JOHN H. DINGMAN 



tive committee of the Brooklyn Young Republi- 
can Club, and was one of the three of that com- 
mittee who would not desert the committee or 
the club during the Blaine campaign. 

Lieutenant Dingman has also a strong relig- 
ious nature, and from early life has worked 
earnestly in that field. When but nineteen years 
old he was elected superintendent of a Sunday 
school in New York, of which Rev. Drs. Bethune 
and Vannest were pastors, and has continued in 
other places in the same congenial work. He 



Belgcr, Baltimore, Md. With his captain, A. M. 
Smith, he worked laboriously in the enlistment 
of men for that campaign, and the regiment de- 
parted with full numbers. 

On .lune 18, 1863, the regiment departed again 
from New York on its second period of service. 
This, the Pennsylvania campaign, though of but 
thirty days' duration, was in detail full of all the 
excitements of war, and during the entire month 
was in arduous and dangerous service. It arrived 
at Ilarrisburgh amidst the treinendous excite- 



Its History and Its Hkroes 



41 



ment of the invasion of Pennsylvania by Lee's 
army. Second Lieutenant Dingman, whose ap- 
pointment as such was announced in general 
orders at "Camp Seymour," opposite Harris- 
burgh, June 24, tool; charge of the men who 
were digging the rifle pits at tiiat point during 
the night of June 29, and the next morning, 
without talcing sleep, moved with the regiment 
toward Carlisle, meeting with the regiment, at 
Sporting Hill, his first baptism of fire with cool- 
ness and unflinching courage. A bullet from 
the rifle of a rebel sharpshooter passed into a 
board of the fence near which he and his captain, 
John Stevenson, were standing, and when the 
captain suggested that they had better move, he 
smilingly replied that "Lightning never strikes 
twice in the same spot." A second shot coming 
immediately, however, and within a few inches 
of their heads, led the other to say, "but it 
comes mighty near it," and they moved a few 
feet, though still fully exposed to the rebel's aim. 
Towards the end of that day, after a march of 
over ten miles under a scorching sun, he was one 
of fifteen of Company B, tlie color company, 
who, ahead of the rest of the regiment, carried 
the colors into Carlisle and placed them upon 
the court house. The rebels, 9,000 mounted 
infantry under General Stuart, were slowly retir- 
ing from Carlisle towards Gettysburg, and they 
captured a few of our men. The 37th, however, 
captured some of theirs in return. At S o'clock 
that evening Lieutenant Dingman was in conver- 
sation with General William F. Smith (" Baldy 
Smith"), when there was brought before the 
latter a rebel, with a flag of truce and a message 
demanding the surrender of the troops in Carlisle. 
"Tell your general to go to h — 1, I never surren- 
der," was the profane but emphatic answer, and 
the rebel was sent back with haste. He must 
have signaled the fruitlessness of his errand in 
some way, for he had hardly been released before 
there came crashing into the columns of the 
court house, near which the regiment was sta- 
tioned, a cannon ball, which seemed to carry 
witli it the anger of the ungratified "rebs. " 

Lieutenant Dingman served through this cam- 
paign, as through the former one, with an earn- 
estness borne of his love for the Union, and 
continued with the 37th for several years after 
the war was over, but resigned before the regi- 
ment was united with and merged into the 
famous " 7 ist. " 



GEORGE M. CURTIS was born in Worcester, 
Mass., in 1843, of Irish, Scotch and Italian ances- 
try. He was educated in the Worcester high 
school, and at the Baptist academy. While 
hardly more than a school boy he yielded to the 
patriotic impulses of the hour, and in 1S61 went 
to the front as a volunteer in the 3d Battalion, 
Massachusetts Rifles, under Major, afterwards 
Major-General Charles Devens, and served with 
credit till the expiration of his term of enlistment. 
He then entered the law office of Hon. John W. 
AshmeatI, in New York city, and by reporting 




George M. Curtis 

for the newspapers and contributions to literary 
periodicals managed to support himself till fitted 
for examination and admission to the bar. He 
was barely twenty-one when first elected to the 
assembly of the state of New York, being one of 
the youngest representatives New York city ever 
sent to Albany. He was re-elected to the same 
office in 1865, and during both terms attracted 
special attention by his eloquence in debate, 
which was only exercised upon important mat- 
ters, particularly in defense of Governor Seymour 
from political traducers. In 1865-6 he was assist- 
ant corporation attorney of New York city, and 
in 1867 was elected judge of the Marine (now 
City) court, being a very young man to occupy 



42 



TiiK Gkani) Akmv ok THF, RkPUI!I.IC 



so important a position on tiie bencii, which he 
did for six j'ears. Declining a renomination, he 
entered into the active practice of the law which 
he has continued to the present time, with marked 
success, having, as a recent sketch says, "argued 
cases in nine states of the Union, saved thirty- 
eight persons from the scaffold and, on account of 
his remarkable success in the litigation of estates, 
become known as the ' will smasher.' He is the 



was in the battles of Yorklown, Hanover Court- 
house, Gaines Mill, Malvern Hill, Antietam, 
Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Aldie, Gettys- 
burg, Jones Cross-roads, Rappahannock Station, 
Mine Run, The Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North 
Anna, Betlicsda Church, Weldon Railroad, 
Petersburg, and many minor engagements. 

At Rappahannock, November 7, 1S63, he re- 
ceived a bullet, which he carries to the present 




ROBERT H. McCORMIC 



only lawyer at the New York bar who ever l)roke 
a will by verdict of a jury." 

Comrade Curtis joined Lafayette Post in Sep- 
tember, 1 89 1. 

ROBERT H. McCORMIC was born October 
25, 1839. His army life began September 1, 
1861, when he enlisted as a private in the 44th 
New York, widely known as the famous Ells- 
worth Regiment, named, of course, after the 
young hero whose life was so early sacrificed in 
the great struggle. Private McCormic was pro- 
moted to sergeant, sergeant-major, first lieu- 
tenant, and then captain, under which rank he 
was mustered out at the e.xpiration of his term 
of service, at Albany, October 11, 1864. He 



time, and at Bethesda Church, June 3, 1864, he 
was also wounded. 

Captain McCormic joined Lew Benedict Post 
5, Albany, May g, 1868; was transferred about 
ten years ago, and is now a member of Lew O. 
Morris Post 121, of the same city. Besides 
other offices in the order, he has been junior 
vice-commander and assistant adjutant-general 
of the department, and aide on the department 
and national staffs and, as he was a good sol- 
dier, he is also a good Grand Army man, active, 
enthusiastic, and loyal always. He is widely 
known, and just as widely liked. No man in 
the department is better informed as to its 
practical workings and personnel than Comrade 
McCormic. 



Its History and Its Heroes 



43 



ANTHONY CLINCHV was born in Ireland 
August 26, 1842. The family came to New York 
while he was an infant. In 1867 his father, a 
man liberal in his ideas and methods, died and 
the boy, leaving school, was for three years in a 
wool house and then apprenticed to the plumb- 
ing trade. Meantime he had joined Company D, 
Sth N. Y. militia, which regiment responded to 
the first call for troops. They were stationed first 
at Annapolis and then at the Relay House. When 
the 6th Massachusetts was fired upon in Baltimore 
tlie Sth New York was sent to report to General 




Anthony Clinchy 

Butler, company D being part of the detail. 
They remained a few days till quiet was restored, 
then returned to headquarters and were soon 
sent to Georgetown and to Arlington Heights, 
where they remained till the first battle of Bull 
Run, in which they participated, losing a num- 
ber of men, among them some of Clinchy's most 
intimate friends and acquaintances. After the 
retreat the regiment returned to Arlington and, 
their term of service having expired, were mus- 
tered out, Clinchy bringing home with him the 
germs of typhoid fever, from which he was laid 
up for a long time. 

In 1862 he began business for himself as a 
plumber, in which line he has been engaged up 



to the present time with highly satisfactory re- 
sults. He has made many friends among the 
prosperous and influential, and has been actively 
engaged in democratic politics. On the 30th 
of March, 1892, he was appointed by Governor 
Flower state inspector of gas meters, and a 
searching investigation by a legislative commit- 
tee, instituted by his political opponents, sTved 
to bring forth the most flattering testimonials as 
to his ability and character, and letters from 
many republicans asking for his retention in 
office. 

He is a thirty-second degree Mason, member 
of the Mystic Shrine, of the Sth Regiment Vet- 
erans, Veteran Firemen's Association, New York 
Democratic Club, Tammany Hall, Columbian 
Order, Hoboken Turtle Club, Masonic Veterans 
and Craftsmen's Club, He is also a member of 
Lafayette Post. 

*^ 

HENRY H. ADAMS. There is reason to 
suppose that the military ardor and patriotic 
spirit which early burned in the heart of Com- 
rade Henry H. Adams were part ot his inherit- 
ance; for being born of the famous Massach- 
usetts family in one of whose cradles two 
presidents were rocked, he can point with pride 
to a father who was a soldier in the war of 181 2; 
to a grandfather who responded to the alarm at 
Lexington, 

" where the enibattl'd farmers stood, 

And fired the shot heard round the world ;" 

and to another ancester killed in King Philip's 
war — not to speak of a line of descent through 
Sir John ap Adam, of England, and Princess 
Gundred, back to William the Conquerer. 

Be this as it may, Comrade Adams who was 
born in CoUamer, Ohio, in 1844, was so stirred 
by the assault upon Fort Sumpter, that he could 
scarcely wait till he had reached the requisite 
age but exerted himself in recruiting other men 
for the service till Nov. 15, 1862, when he en- 
listed in the 125th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for 
three years. He was offered a commission of 
second lieutenant, but owing to delicate health 
at the beginning of his service, was induced by 
Col. Emerson Opdycke to accept a position in 
the department of public mails, on detached ser- 
vice. Bv special permission he joined his com- 
mand at intervals, and in the battle of Franklin, 
Tenn., according to the testimony of officers of 
his regiment, he led the advance in the charge 



44 



The Gkan'd Army oi- iiif Rktuhik 



across the " Lilile Harpetli," dislodging Van 
Dorn's forces, then occupying the south i)anl(. 
In order to do this, the 125th was ordered in the 
keen winter weather to " double i|uick " across 
the river where the water was up to the arm-pits. 
The confederates were successfully driven out of 
Franklin, and tl\e 125111 stood on picket from 
three in the afternoon till nine next morniiiLj .vitli 
their wet clothes frozen on itiem. 



with guerillas, bushwackers and rebel raiders. 
V'oung Adams, with an escort of ten scouts, 
made tri-weekly trips by night through the 
wilderness, and over Raccoon Mountains, fre- 
quently encountering the rebel forces and bands 
of guerillas. On September 20, 1864, while in 
this service, he was captured at Athens, Ala , by 
Gen. Forest, and with seventeen men taken to 
Cahaba, Ala., and there remained for three 




HENRY H. ADAMS 



Comrade Adams also participated in the 
battles of Chicamauga, Rocky Face Ridge, 
Resaca, New Hope Church, and Kenesaw 
Mountain. During the operations of the 4th 
corps at New Hope Church and Kenesaw, he did 
valuable service in charge of the courier lines of 
communication between these points and Big 
Shanty, the latter being the scat of supplies. 
This service was one of great danger, the army 
being stationed forty miles southwest of Big 
Shanty, and the intervening country infested 



months a prisoner, enduring untoltl hardships, 
the only food being black mouldy corn meal that 
had bt'en condemned as horse feed. In No- 
vember he was exchanged at Vicksburgh, and 
reported for duty on the morning of the battle 
of Nashville He served the remainder of his 
time on special duty, at ting as aide on the staff 
of Gen. Emerson Opdycke. Owing to impair- 
ment of health consequent u[)on his sojourn in 
southern prisons, he was discharged March 10, 
1865, at Nashville, Tenn. 



Its History and Its Heroes 



45 



Engaging in the iron business in Cleveland, 
O. , and in ore and grain transportation on the 
upper lakes, he remained in that city till 18S2, 
when he removed to New York where he is 
identified with important iron interests. 

Joining Lafayette Post, 140, in 1S91, he im- 
mediately gave practical evidence of being em- 
bodied with the spirit of enterprise which is 
characteristic of that organization, and which has 
found in him a most intelligent promoter, as 
well as representative. Being in Paris on Dec- 
oration day, 1892, he was delegated by the post 
to decorate the grave of Lafayette, and delivered 
an address and carried out the details of the cere- 
mony with such brilliancy of effect as to win the 
complimentary approval of representatives of the 
French government, the American minister, 
descendents of Lafayette, and of practically the 
whole American colony there assembled. 

In the now national movements which origi- 
nated with Lafayette Post, for placing the 
American flag on the public schools, and for the 
introduction of the military drill, Comrade 
Adams has been especially active and especially 
successful. Not only in his own city and 
through the west has he made able speeches in 
favor of the idea, but it was through his efforts 
that a conference of governors was held in New 
York in January, 1895, for the purpose of obtain- 
ing concerted action in the several states towards 
the introduction of the drill in the public schools. 
For this far-reaching innovation much credit 
must always devolve upon H. H. Adams, com- 
mander (in 1895) of Lafayette Post, 140, and 
history may yet record, that much as he and his 
comrades anticipated from its influence in the 
promotion of the highest Americanism among 
the rising generation, they " builded better 
than they knew. " 



HENRY CLAY COOKE was born in Water- 
ville, Oneida County, N. Y., September 10, 
1842. After attending the Oneida and Jefferson 
county public schools he was clerk for a while in 
a drug and grocery store in Brownsville. He 
enlisted March 9, 1S61, in Co. K, 3Sth New- 
York, for two years and went with the regiment 
to the front, where it formed part of the Army 
of the Potomac during its term of service, par- 
ticipating in the battles of Cedar Mountain, 
Groveton, second Bull Run, Manassas, Chantilla, 



South Mountain, Antietam and Fredericksburgh, 
and was mustered out at Elmira, June nth, 
1863. 

After a visit liome young Cooke vi'ent to 
Detroit and enlisted in the reorganization of the 
iith Michigan infantry. Colonel Keegan com- 
manding. Was made first lieutenant of Co. B, 
and after arriving at Chattanooga under General 
Steadman, his regimental quartermaster was 
made brigade quartermaster, and Cooke made 
assistant quartermaster of the regiment. Soon 




^■■♦^ 




Hknkv Clay Couke 

afterwards the regiment was ordered to report 
to General Thomas at Nashville, and became 
part of the second brigade, army of the Cum- 
berland, with headquarters at Cleveland, Tenn., 
holding the front from there to Knoxville. 
Lieutenant Cooke was detailed as assistant adju- 
tant general on the brigade staff. Colonel La 
Fever commanding, and served in that capacit}' 
till the brigade was disbanded in 1865, when he 
was ordered to report to Major-General Stone- 
man at Knoxville, and made assistant quarter- 
master of the post. After settlement with the 
government he returned to Detroit and was 
mustered out September 27, 1865. He returned 
to Utica and on a visit to a married sister in New 
York determined to locate in that citv, which he 



46 



The Grand Army of the Repuiu.tc 



<ii(l, in the tea business. Subsequently he went 
into the military clothing trade, in which line he 
sujiplied the stale of New York with uniforms 
for the National Guard. He is now in the chil- 
dren's clothing business. Is a Mason, a member 
of Glen Ridge Club at Glen Ridge, N. J., where 
he resides, and a member of Lafavette Post. 



(). H. LA GRANGE was born in Oswego 
county, N. Y., 3d April, 1837, and imperfectly 
educated by his own exertions. He went to 
Kansas in 1856 to aid in opposing slavery in that 
territory, remained a year, took a boy's part in 
the border troubles, and brought home the 
Sharp's rifle, which he had retained when all 
others of his party were disarmed by United 
States troops on entering the territory. Was 
indicted with others in the United States district 
court for Wisconsin in i860 for aiding in the 
rescue of S. M. Booth from confinement in the 
custom house at Milwaukee, for violation of the 
Fugitive Slave law, but was never arrested under 
this indictment, which was nolle piossed by the 
United States attorney appointed by Lincoln. 
He enlisted in Co. "B," Fourth Wisconsin Vol- 
unteer Infantry, April 19, 1861, was chosen Caji- 
tain, promoted to Major First Wisconsin Cavalry, 
and went through the grades to Brevet Brigadier- 
General. He twice declined the latter grade, 
and commanded a Cavalry Brigade for nearly 
two years as Colonel, w-hile he was junior in 
rank as in years to many officers in the Cavalry 
who only commanded regiments. He had live 
horses killed and two wounded under him in 
battle but was never wounded. He received in 
person the thanks of Generals E. M. McCook, 
Mitchell, Foster, Rosecrans, Garfield, Thomas 
and Wilson, for service in the field; was one of 
fifty union officers placed under fire at Charles- 
ton to stop bombardment. 

He was admitted to the bar of the Court of 
Appeals, New York, in 1866, Supreme Court of 
California, 1867, and Supreme Court of the 
United States in 1869. Was District Attorney 
for Alemeda county, California, 1 868-1 869, and 
convicted every prisoner that he had caused to 
be indicted. 

Was presidential elector at large for California 
in 1868, and superintendent of the mint of the 



United States at San Francisco from 1869 until 
1878, while that mint coined §200,000,000 with 
a less percentage for wastage than ever before 
sustained there in the manipulation of the 
precious metals. He aided in the repeal of the 
coinage charge on gold, and the great reduction 
of all charges to depositors. Disbursed millions 
of public money and settled his accounts without 
any loss to the government. Has since had 
experience as a miner, lianker and merchant in a 
mining camp, and more recently has tried im- 




O. H. La Grange 



portanl cases successfullv in the Su]ireme Court 
against leaders of the New York Bar. 

Was recommended in 1889 to President Har- 
rison for ajipointment as Assistant Attorney Gen- 
eral of the United States by Senators Leland 
Stanford of California, William M. Evarts of 
New York, C. K. Davis of Minnesota, John C. 
Spooner of Wisconsin, and many representa- 
tives, besides John C. New, R. G. IngersoU, 
Wager Swayne, John F. Dillon, Samuel L. M. 
Barlow, Chauncey M. Depew and General W. 
T. Sherman. Is at present writing (1896) fire 
commissioner of the city of New York. Joined 
Lafayette Post 140. 



Its History and Its Heroes 



47 



EDMUND HENDRICKS was born in New- 
York city, Sept. i6, 1834, and is descended 
from the earliest Dutch settlers of this locality. 
He enjoyed the privileges and benefits of the 
schools of that city till the age of fifteen, when 
he entered the Archimides iron works situated 
at foot of North Moore St., North River, N. V., 
that he might gain a practical knowledge of the 
management and construction of machinery, his 
father believing that, in the business for which he 



by fire in 1874, but rebuilt on an enlarged and 
much improved plan, and stand to-day as a 
monument to the enterprise and success of the 
now existing firm of which Mr. Hendricks is the 
senior partner. 

Comrade Hendricks enlisted in Co. F, yth 
Regiment N. Y. State militia, on June 19, 1802, 
and being mustered into the United States ser- 
vice did duty with the regmient wherever they 
were called to serve, in garrison at Fort Federal 




EDMUN.O HENDRICKS 



was intended, such a course would be of far 
more value than a classical education. After 
leaving the machine shop he was engaged for a 
time in mercantile pursuits, and then entered 
the office of Hendricks Brothers, a firm estab- 
lished by his great-grandfather in 1764, and the 
business of which has been successfully conducted 
by four generations in a direct line, the house 
always standing among the most important of 
tiie metal trade in the United States. In 1812 
tiie firm established copper-rolling mills at Belle- 
ville, N. J., for the purpose of rolling copper 
plates for the government. They were destroyed 



Hill, Baltimore, and Frederick City, and also 
during the memorable draft riots in New York 
city. He became a member of Lafayette Post 
August II, 1SS6, and has always been an active 
and usefid member, ever ready to assist with 
substantial aid any movement in which the post 
is interested. He is also a member of the Union 
Club, New York Club, Seventh Regiment \'et- 
eran Club, Chamber of Commerce, Metropolitan 
Museum of Art and of Natural History, besides 
being connected with numerous benevolent insti- 
tutions. Unostentatious in all his charities no 
needy comrade ever applied to him in vain for help. 



48 



Till-: Grand Army oi- iiik Rkpuiujc 



MEREDITH L. JONES was born in the city 
of Carbondale, Luzerne (now Lackawanna) 
county, Pennsylvania; was educated at the 
Luzerne Presbyterial institute, in the Wyoming 
Valley; afterwards read law with his father, a 
leading lawyer of the Luzerne bar, and then 
residing at Scranton, Pa. After practicing his 
profession in Scranton and Wilkes Barre. in 1876 
he entered upon a successful practice in the city 
of New York, where he still resides. His 
parents were Hon. Lewis Jones and Anna Maria 
Jones (nee Gibson). Hon. Lewis Jones was a 




Meredijii L. Jones 

leading lawyer and successful business man, and 
was for some time on tlie bench, as Judge of the 
district, afterwards incorporated into the county 
of Lackawanna. On both sides Mr. Jones 
sprung from revolutionary stock. 

During the summer and fall of 1862, Governor 
Ciirtin conferred upon Mr. Jones authority to 
recruit men f(jr the regiments then forming at 
Harrisburgh; and he also received authority' 
from General Roy Stone, who at tlie time was 
forming his famous Bucktaii Brigade. Armed 
with these papers, Mr. Jones made a canvass of 
his native county, and soon returned with a fine 
body of men, who were enlisted in the 149th 
Regiment of Pennsylvania volunteers, into which 



regiment he himself was at the same time mus- 
tered as second lieutenant of Co. E. He was 
afterwards promoted to first lieutenant, and was 
assigned to the command of Co. B, this regi- 
ment. The regiment was on duty for six months 
in and about the city of Washington, and in 
February, i86j, was moved to the front and 
attached to the second brigade, third division, 
first army corps. Army of the Potomac. 

Lieutenant Jones was at once detailed to act 
as aide on the staff of Major-General Abner 
Doubleday, and served with him actively through 
the Chancellorsville and Gettysburg campaigns, 
and when General Kenley took command of the 
division, Mr. Jones was retained on the division 
staff, until the fall of 1863, when he was returned 
to his regiment and assigned to the command of 
Co. B. 

On the morning of the first day of the battle 
of Gettysburg, Lieutenant Jones was sent for- 
ward with Major E. P. Halstead, to communicate 
with General Reynolds, and joined him in the 
seminary grounds before the infantry arrived. 
Lieutenant Jones was immediately sent back for 
a battery, and at once brought up Hall's Maine 
battery, and thus achieved the proud distinction 
of opening the great battle of the first day. 

He was actively engaged the whole three days 
of the battle, and during the terrific cannonade 
of the afternoon of the third day his horse was 
shot almost to pieces, Lieutenant Jones escaping 
by a miracle as it were. 

Lieutenant Jones has the distinction of hon- 
orable mention in General Doubleday's report 
of the battle of Gettysburg, published in the 
official records of " The War of The Rebellion," 
and also several times in General Doubleday's 
History of the Battle of Gettysburg. 

Governor Curtin sent for Lieutenant Jones 
and offered him the command of one of the new 
regiments forming at Harrisburg; but by reason 
of pledges given his men when they recruited 
with him, he refused any other promotion than 
that he could acquire in his own regiment. 

Late in the fall of 1863 Lieutenant Jones was 
prostrated by a severe attack of typhoid pneu- 
monia, which nearly cost him his life, and from 
which he never sufficiently recovered to resume 
active duty in the army, and was so honorably 
discharged as first lieutenant, March 18, 1.S64. 

It may be just to say that in 1861 Lieutenant 
Jones' patriotic impulse led him to form, with 



Its History and Its Heroes 



49 



anotlier, a drill company in Scranton, to prepare 
himself and associates for tlie service, which 
company, under the masterly hand of Colonel 
Vincent M.Wilcox,* afterwards of the i32d regi- 
ment, Pennsylvania volunteers, was brought to 
a state of great proficiency, and out of its ranks 
forty-eight became commissioned officers in the 
army, and some of high rank. Lieutenant Junes 
feels proud of his part in inaugurating this move- 
ment, and in getting this body of men together. 
Comrade Jones, on May lo, 1864, married 
Miss Delia Silliman Mitchell, daughter of Colo- 
nel Wm. Minot Mitchell, a prominent lawyer of 



member of the Sons of the Revolution, Kane 
lodge 454, F. & A. M., the Colonial club, the west 
side Republican club, and other organizations. 



JOHN FRED. PIERSON, a native of New 
York city, born February 25, 1839, began his 
military service as a member of the engineer 
corps of the yth regiment, N. Y. S. M., early in 
i860, and was soon afterwards placed on de- 
tached service as aide-de-camp on the staff of 
General William Hall, commanding the brigade 
to which the 7th was attached. 




iv. 



JOHN FRED. PIERSON 



New York city, and formerly public administra- When the war broke out Private Pierson began 
tor of the city of New York. She was also to recruit a cavalry company, and on May 26, 
grand-daughter of the late William Silliman, a 1861, was commissioned captain of Company 
prominent chancery lawyer of the city of New H, ist New York infantry volunteers; was pro- 
York in his day. Mr. Jones has one daughter, moted major, July 20, lieutenant colonel, Septem- 
Annie Meredith, now the wife of George Flint ber 10, 1861; colonel, October 9, 1862; brevet 
Warren, jr., Esq., of the law firm of Anderson, brigadier general U. S. Volunteers, March 13. 
Anderson & Warren, of New York city. 1865. Served in Berry's brigade of Kearney's 
Comrade Jones became a member of Lafayette division in Hooker's corps, participating in the 
Post in June, 1887; was elected junior vice-corn- battles of Big Bethel, Hampton Roads, Fair 



mander in 1889, and senior vice-commander in 
1890 ; has also served on National and Department 
staff, and as delegate to department encampment 
and on important committees, etc. Is also a 



Oaks, Peach Orchard, Glendale, Charles City 
Cross-roads, Malvern Hill, second Bull Run, 
Chantilly, Fredericksburg, first and second bat- 
tles, and Chancellorsville. Was wounded at 



See pages 31-2. 
7 



Comrade Wilcox died May U, Isi)..;, as these pages were passing through the press. 



50 



TiiK Grand Army of the Repuri-ic 



Glendale, Va., June 30, 1862, where he had his 
horse killed under him; was taken prisoner at 
Chantilly September, 1862, and was confined for 
several months in Libby prison; at Chancellors- 
ville, May 2, 1865, was shot through the chest 
and severely wounded, but continued in com- 
mand of his regiment. 

When the regiment returned from the war it 
was received with distinguished honors by the 
citizens of New York city and a grand bancjuet 
given in its honor. As many of its ofiicers, 
besides Colonel Pierson, belonged to the 7th 
regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., this regiment turned 
out in full to meet and escort it. At a war meet- 
ing held at Cooper institute December 3, 1863, 
Colonel Pierson was appointed a commissioner 
to visit the army of the Potomac for the pur- 
pose of promotmg re-enlistments among those 
regiments whose terms of service were about to 
e-xpire, and was highly successful and much 
commended. 

In June, 1863, during the invasion of Penn- 
sylvania, he accompanied the New York malitia to 
Harrisburg, serving under General William Hall 
as chief of staff, and quarter-master of the 3d brig- 
ade, N. Y. S. M , continuing on duty si.xty days. 

For distinguished service on the battle-field 
and iluring the war General Pierson received 
many letters of commendation from his superior 
officers, from which extracts from only two can 
find place here. General S. B. Ilayman, U. S. A., 
commandmg the 3d brigade, writes: 

"Perhaps no colonel has more fully illustrated his 
capacity to enforce discipline through energy, and moral 
as well as physical courage, than yourself, and even in 
this noted division it would be difficult to name your 
equal as a tactitian." 

General H. G. Berry, commanding ist division, 
under date of December 29, 1802, writes: 

" I am happy to say that through your exertions the 
First Regiment is a model of discipline. The men are 
happy and contented, and ellicient to a high degree, and 
I consider the regiment one of the best in the service." 

General Pierson commanded the lirst volun- 
teer troops sent by the state of New York to the 
war, and he was undoubtedly the youngest 
oflicer of his rank in our army at times com- 
manding a brigade. 

In 1866, he became a member of the firm of 
Pierson & Co., established by his grand-father 
in New York city in 1787, and which has con- 
tinued under the original name for over a century 
with credit unimpaired. 



Comrade Pierson joined Lafayette Post in 
February, 1890, and although never an aspirant 
for oflice. has taken an active part in all move- 
ments and measures which have originated with 
the post, and rendered efficient aid bv his wise 
councils and liberal contributions. 



CHARLES J. WRIGHT enlisted as a private 
in the i6th New Hampshire Volunteers and was 
promoted to fifth sergeant of Co. G, sergeant- 
major and commissioned second lieutenant of 
Co. K, "for gallant and meritorious service." 



€> c 




Chakles J. Wright 

He was commissioned lieutenant-colonel 39th 
I'. S. Colored Troops, April 19, 1864, and com- 
manded the 27th V. S. Colored Troops in the 
campaign of the Wilderness, was wounded in the 
assault on the fortifications around Petersburg; 
again ([uite seriously at Fort Fisher, and was 
breveted colonel on March 13, 1865, "for gal- 
lant and meritorious services during the war." 

Colonel Wright is a member of the Loyal 
Legion, Sons of the Revolution, Society of the 
Army of the Potomac and United Service Club; 
he is a graduate of Ilobart College, with the 
degree of A. M., and president of the New York 
Military Academy at Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y. 




JOHN C. SHOTTS 



5: 



TiiK Grand Akmv ok tiii: Rkimhi k 



JOHN C. SHOTTS. commander of the De- 
partment of New York in 1894, was born August 
II, 1844, in West Farms (now the 23d ward of 
the city of New York). He enlisted at Yonkers 
April 16, 1861, for two years, and was sworn into 
the United States service May 22 following as a 
member of Co. A, 17th New York \'olunteers, 
known as the Westchester Chasseurs. He was 
discharged June 2, 1863, in New York, having 
carried a musket in the ranks through all the 
term for which he volunteered. He was at the 
siege of Yorktown, and engaged in the battles 
of Mechanicville, Hanover Court House, Cold 
Harbor, Whitehouse Junction, Second Bull Run, 
Antietam, Sheperdslown, Fredericksburg, Rich- 
ard's Ford, Chancellurville, and United States 
Ford. At the battle of Hanover Court House 
the 17th New York and 83d Pennsylvania cap- 
tured two guns belonging to Latham's celebrated 
New Orleans battery, which were the first guns 
taken in battle by the Army of the Potomac. The 
charge of the 17th New York was very hand- 
somely made, their superior drill being manifest 
in the solid front which they presented in mov- 
ing forward. Comrade Shott's company (A), 
being on the skirmish line, he was one of the first 
to reach and take possession of the gun in behalf 
of the company and regiment. Wherever placed 
he proved himself to be of the stuff which makes 
good soldiers, and which saved the Union. 

After his discharge Comrade Shotts went into 
the market business, and since 1883 has been 
engaged in the wholesale commission business, 
operating at present three refrigerator houses, 
one each at Yonkers, Tarrytown and Mount 
Vernon. He has served one five year term as 
water commissioner of the city of Yonkers, and 
has recently been appointed for another five 
years. 

Comrade Shotts is a member of Kitching Post 
No. 60, having been mustered in 1879. He was 
elected commander of the Post in 1880, and in 
1886 was re-elected and served eight consecutive 
terms. He has for several years been the chair- 
man of the Yonkers memorial committee; in 
1893 was a member of the department council of 
administration, and on February 22, 1894, was 
elected department commander and held office 
till May 16, 1895. The fidelity with which 
he attended to his duties is suggested by the 
fact that in their discharge he journeyed over 
22,000 miles and received the fraternal grasp 



from 20,000 comrades. His sym[)aihy with the 
private soldier led him to much active endeavor 
in the halls of legislation, which was not with- 
out result. 



CHARLES W. SPOONER was born in Cin- 
cinnati, O., in 1845. He received his appoint- 
ment as Acting Master's Mate in the volunteer 
navv of the L'niled States, June 1. 1X63, and was 




Charles W. Si'oo.nek 



assigned U> the Flagship "Moose," commanded 
by Lieutenant-Commander LeRoy Fitch, com- 
manding the Ohio Fleet, under Rear Admiral 
David D. Porter, commanding the Mississippi 
Squadron. He was promoted to Acting Ensign 
February 12, 1864, and assigned as executive 
officer aboard the United States steamer " Rein- 
deer," which vessel he soon after commanded. 
He took an active part in the engagements at 
and above Buffington Island, in pursuit of Gen- 
eral John Morgan and his band of marauders in 
their attempted raid into Indiana and Ohio, 
which resulted in the capture of that famous 
rebel, and the destruction of his forces; also in 



Its History and Its Heroes 



53 



the engagements with the confederate batteries 
below Nashville in co-operating with General 
Thomas against the advancing forces of General 
Hood, destroying his pontoons, and attacking 
and silencing his batteries; conve3'ing troops 
from point to point on the Tennessee river, and 
capturing transports, all of which contributed 
largely to the demoralization of Hood's armv. 
He was actively engaged during 1863-4 in 
patroling the Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland and 
upper Mississippi rivers, in keeping open naviga- 
tion, putting down guerillas, protecting loyal 
citizens and destroying the projierty of disloyal 
persons. 

At the close of the war in 1865, he resigned 
his commission and entered upon the study of 
the law. He graduated from the Cincinnati 
Law school in 1867, and from the law depart- 
ment of Harvard college in 1868. He practiced 
his profession in Cincinnati until 1870, and then 
left for Europe on a three years' tour of study 
and travel. Upon his return in 1873, he became 
a member of the New York Bar, and has since 
then uninterruptedly practiced his profession in 
New York city, where he now- resides. He is a 
Comrade of the Alexander Hamilton Post, 
G. A. R., and a Companion in the New Yurk 
Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal 
Legion of the United States, in both of whicii 
organizations he takes an active interest. 



United States quartermaster at Camp Chase, and 
was wagon-master there for three months. On 
the 2d of January, 1863, he was commissioned 
master's mate of the Prairie Bird No. 11, of the 
Mississippi gunboat squadron, carrying 100 men, 
12 officers and 8 guns. Tiiree months later, after 
competitive examination, he was promoted to 
acting ensign and, owing to the accidental death 
of the captain, was executive officer for a year. 
He took an active part in the siege of Vicks- 
burg, where he was detailed to command the 




WILLIAM M. ERNST. Various metlmds 
were adopted during the war to show apprecia- 
tion of ability and meritorious conduct, but it 
was not often that this was done through revok- 
ing a resignation after it had been accepted for 
several months, as was the case with Comrade 
William M. Ernst, a native of Cincinnati, born 
March 24, 1842, who first enlisted in July, 1861, 
in Co. A, 34th Ohio (Piatt's Zouave regiment), 
commanded by a brother of Don Piatt. The 
regiment was sent to West Virginia and the 
companies were detached, Co. A remaining at 
Winfield all winter. Ernst having been pro- 
moted from corporal to second lieutenant, was 
sent to Cincinnati on recruiting service, in which 
he was so successful as to earn a first lieutenancy 
and was assigned to the 52d Ohio. He soon 
after resigned and joined his fatlier, who was 



\ViLi.i.\.\i M. Ernst 



mortor boats which were used in shelling the citv. 
An incident that he recalls with interest vvas the 
ruse employed a night or two after the rebels 
had captured a ram and two other boats from us. 
It was very dark when suddenly the enemv dis- 
cerned a mysterious looking craft bearing down 
upon the city She was silent, but was thought 
all the more dangerous on that account, and 
every battery that could be trained upon her 
opened fire, while the infantry were hurried to 
the river bank and blazed away as rapidly as 
possible She neither replied nor stopped, but 
moved straight on, while the whole city was 
ablaze willi the firing of the rebel guns and the 



54 



The Grand Akmy ok tiik Rkpuhlic 



burning of the captured ram and other boats, 
affording just the needed liglit for our artillery 
to shell the town. Later on the silent vessel 
was picked up by our boys below the city. She 
was an old barge with barrels for smokestacks, 
guns made of wood, and a pile of coal in the 
bottom furnishing the smoke. Curiously enough 
only two shots from the enemies batteries had 
struck her, although she was riddled with bullets. 

A much sadder circumstance was the sinking 
of the large river steamer B. F. Runyan, with 
a portion of ths 8th Micliigan Cavalry and many 
refugee men, women and children, 750 in all. 
Ensign Ernst and his crew saved all they could, 
working all night to minister to their distress 
and burying 278 bodies that were recovered. 

After Vicksburg Ensign Ernst went up the 
Yazoo river and discovered Fort Pemberton that 
had prevented the gunboat fleet from passing 
through the bayou to the rear of the city. The 
fort was made of cotton, covered with earth. 
The cotton was confiscated by the Prairie Bird 
and another boat, the crews of which received 
prize money. On the return trip to Yazoo City 
the other boat was captured and the Prairie Bird, 
being unable to work both her engines, could 
not go to her relief and siie was burned. The 
Bird also had to lay up, and was finally extri- 
cated by the gunboat Vindicator. 

At Gaine's Landing a masked battery of eigiit 
guns opened on the Prairie Bird, putting twenty- 
six shots through her in about fifteen minutes. 
Two shrapnels burst in the first division, which 
was commanded by Ernst. Of the nineteen men 
composing this division five were killed and the 
rest all wounded except one. Ernst was struck 
on the chest by a splinter of wood, and after his 
wound was dressed commanded his battery while 
sitting in a chair and till the enemy was driven 
off. 

In June, 1865, Ernst resigned, returned to Cin- 
cinnati and was out of the service till August, 
when, as stated, his resignation was revoked and 
he was ordered back to duty. It seems that it 
was the intention to fit out cruisers for river ser- 
vice, and the ablest men that could be found 
were to be designated for their command, but 
although the idea was subsequently abandoned 
by the government, the very unusual compliment 
was none the less real. Comrade Ernst was 
finally discharged December 24, 1865. 

He joined Lafayette Post in May, 1885. 



JOHN 15. JOHNSON was horn in Middlesex 
county, New Jersey, March 23, 1841; has been 
for thirty-two years in New York in the building 
material business and in real estate. He is a 
prominent member of the Knights of Honor, 
Royal Good Fellows, F. & A. M., and of Alexan- 
der Hamilton Post, G. A. R. 

He enlisted in September, 1861, in the 4th 
New York Independent Battery and was after- 
wards transferred to the 5th New York Inde- 
pendent Battery in December, 1863, and pro- 




jollN B. JoHNSO.N 

moled to second lieutenant. He was in the 
Army of the Potomac from its organization, 
and participated in all its battles until after the 
battle of Spotsylvania Court House in May, 
1864, when his battery, the 5th N. Y. Indepen- 
dents, was sent to the defense of Washington for 
about six weeks, and for a short time he was in 
command of Fort Tillinghast. From there he 
joined General Sheridan in the Shenandoah Val- 
ley and was engaged in all the battles that took 
place in that campaign. He was promoted on 
the battlefield of Gettysburg for meritorious 
conduct. Was wounded at the battle of Williams- 
burg, Va., May 5, 1862. Was honorably mustered 
out on December 10, 1864, after three years and 
three months of about as hard service as fell to 
the lot of many of the Boys in Blue. 



Its History and Its Heroes 



55 



GEORGE H. DEAN was born in Putnam 
county, N. Y., where he livecl till he was sixteen 
years old. He afterwards engaged in the manu- 
facturing business in Bloomfield, N. J., where 
he was living when the war broke out. Embued 
with patriotic ardor he promptly enlisted in July, 
1861, in the First New York Mounted Rifles, 
under the command of the gallant Colonel 
Kilpatrick, and before proceeding to the front 
had used his influence so successfully as to have 
enlisted seventeen others for his com]iany, a 



folk and were there three months, taking part in 
the capture of Suffolk. Comrade Dean was 
engaged with his regiment in many skirmishes 
against the enemy's outposts, and was faithful 
in the discharge of every duty that devolved 
upon him till the expiration of his term of 
service. 

Returning to New York, he engaged in the 
real estate business, which he has conducted 
successfully to the present time. He is a mem- 
ber of Alexander Hamilton Post No. 182, and 
takes a heart-felt interest in all that pertains to 
the welfare of the Grand Army of the Republic. 




^ 



^ 



George H. Dean 

service which was recognized by promoting him 
to quarter- master sergeant of Co. B, when the 
company was mustered into the United States 
service under the command of General Wool, 
at Fortress Monroe, August 31, 1861. He was 
transferred to Co. A September 10, 1S61 ; ap- 
pointed battalion quarter-master sergeant Jan- 
uary 6, 1862; regimental commisary sergeant 
March 21, 1862, and then commissioned captain 
by Governor Edwin E. Morgan. 

Companies A and B served much of the time 
during the early part of the war as body-guard 
to General Wool, reconoitering and making 
raids into the enemy's company, capturing live 
stock and stores that were necessary for the 
maintenance of the troops. They entered Nor- 



WATSON A. FOX was born in Erie county, 
N. Y., January 17, 1819; was educated in Buffalo, 
and serving as a clerk for fifteen years became 
well acquainted with the grocery and ship chand- 
lery business, in 1853 went into that branch of 
trade as a member of the firm of Fo.x & Bruce, 
which lasted for ten years; then engaged in the 
transportation business, owning and sailing ten 
vessels and three steamers on the great lakes 
and thirty-one canal boats on the Erie canal. 
He was one of the organizers of the Buffalo 
Board of Trade. 

In 1854 he became active in military affairs 
and in connection with Col. John M. Griffith, 
Lieut. -Col. John Bliss, Capt. Daniel B. Bidwell 
and Capt William F. Rogers and others organ- 
ized the 74th Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., Fox 
being major, afterwards lieutenant-colonel and 
finally colonel. In 1861, having on his roll about 
700 men, tendered to Governor Morgan the ser- 
vices of the regiment for government service, 
which were accepted, and the command ordered 
to move May i, 1861. This, however, was coun- 
termanded and the regiment assigned to duty in 
Buffalo and along the frontier line, thus prevent- 
ing several attempts of rebels in Canada from 
crossing the Niagara river into the state of New 
York at Buffalo. In June, 1863, the regiment 
was ordered to Harrisburg and Mount Union, Pa., 
for the Gettysburg campaign, and there mustered 
into the United States service, and at that place 
guarded several iron bridges of the Pennsylvania 
railroad and an aqueduct of the Pennsylvania 
canal, which crosses over the Juniata river at that 
point, and which the rebel forces had been sent 
to destroy. Their object was defeated by the 
alertness of Colonel Fox. 



The Grand Akmv oi the Republic 



In July lie was ordered to Clear Springs, Md., 
to hold a pass over the mountains leading from 
Boonsboro to that place. General Kelley was 
then on his way to the pass to unite our forces and 
prevent Lee from crossing the Potomac. Colonel 
Fox found the p>ass held by about 600 Rebel 
cavalry, repulsed them and held the position 
until the arrival of General KclIey with 10,000 
L'nited States troops. 

He was ne.xt ordered to Louden and there re- 
ceived a telegram from (ieneral Couch directing 




Waison a. Fu.\ 

him and his command to proceed with all possible 
dispatch to New York city, where they arrived 
July 14, and were one of the first regiments to 
participate in quelling the great draft riots of 
1863, during which it is believed that 800 men 
were killed and wounded. Colonel Fo.x had 
detachments of his command, which included 
the 65th and 74th, mustering in all, about 1,400 
men, to garrison the post-ollice, treasury build- 
ing, custom house, Atlantic docks Brooklyn, 
Hotchkiss shell factory, etc. ; also one company 
at Fort Hamilton and Lafayette and one in Jer- 
sey City. 

After the trouble in New York was over, 
Colonel Fox was ordered to do duty in Buffalo 



similar to that performed by him before, both 
the state and national government realizing the 
imjiortance of having an officer on this line who 
could be depended upon in an emergency It 
was at this time a plot was formed by rebels in 
Canada to attack, shell and burn Buffalo. Under 
guise of merchandise, bills of lading consigned 
to a merchant in Chicago, cannon and ammuni- 
tion w^ere to be shipped in boxes from St. Cath- 
erines, Canada, where they were stored, on board 
a steamer, which, in passing through the Welland 
canal, was to be seized by rebels going aboard 
just before the steamer entered Lake Erie; on 
getting outside the harbor the cannon to be 
unpacked and limbered up, tlie steamer to run 
down the lake (only twenty miles), heave to off 
Buffalo and demand $3,000,000, which, if not 
paid, they would shell and burn Buffalo, or rob 
its banks. The governor-general of Canada, 
gaining knowledge of what was contemplated, 
informed our government, and General Dix, in 
command of the department, was ordered to 
Buffalo. Colonel Fox being in command of the 
post and having men under him well schooled in 
artillery practice, procuretl some twelve-pound 
Napo'eon guns from the arsenal and was soon 
prepared for any attack that might be made 
He also sent a trusted man to disable a lock in 
the Welland canal, a short distance below St. 
Catherines. The expected steamer collided with 
and disabled a lock so that all boats were delayed 
four ui five days, and thus the plot was frus- 
trated. Colonel Fox's agent was on board the 
steamer and in the pilot house with the wheel- 
man at the time of the collision. They were the 
only persons who knew how or why the lock was 
injured. 

Meantime the 74th kept recruiting all the time 
and many of the men, anxious for more active 
service in the field, joined other commands. The 
regiment furnished over 300 officers for other 
regiments during the war, among them Gen. 
Daniel D. Bidwell of the 49th Volunteers, sixth 
corps. Gen. VV. F. Rogers, 21st Volunteers, and 
Col. A. R. Root, 94th Volunteers. 

At the close of the war Colonel Fox resigned 
and went into the insurance business, removing 
to New York in 1883. While establishing a bat- 
tery at Mount Union, Pa., his foot was perma- 
nently disabled by the wheel of a gun carriage 
passing over it. He became a member of La- 
fayette Post in 1894 and died January 20, 1896. 



LIBRORY OF CONGRESS 

111 



